ABSTRACT
AIM: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was an important pathogen recognition receptor in the innate immune system. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of TLR4 polymorphisms in the general population of China. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 191 unrelated healthy Chinese Cantonese individuals. The functional regions of TLR4 locus,including promoter region and all three exons with their surrounding intronic regions were amplified using polymerase chain reaction. After purified,the amplified products were directly sequenced on both strands. RESULTS: A total of eight single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected,five of which were novel. The most common SNP were -1607 C/T with the minor allele frequency of 0.283. Two nonsynonymous substitutions Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile,which were common in Caucasus,were not detected in Cantonese. Neutrality test revealed that TLR4 in Chinese Cantonese was not significantly deviated from the neutral model. CONCLUSION: This is the new finding on the distribution of TLR4 SNPs in the general population of China. It provides several ethnic specific SNPs for further disease association studies of TLR4 polymorphisms in Chinese populations.