Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism in patients with multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-associated pneumonia

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii [MDRAB]-associated pneumonia has been a common disease and a therapeutic problem in hospitals. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist [IL-1ra] has been considered a required role for host immune defense in pneumonia disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the variable nucleotide tandem repeat polymorphism of the IL-1ra gene was associated with MDRAB-related pneumonia. Sixty-six pneumonia patients were enrolled in the study: 36 subjects had MDRAB-related pneumonia and 30 controls had non-MDRAB pneumonia. Polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques were used to determine the IL-1ra genotype. The frequencies of the IL-1ra genotype in the MDRAB-related pneumonia cases were A1/A1, 0.889 and A1/A2, 0.111; the frequencies of the IL-1ra genotype in the controls were A1/A1, 0.333 and A1/A2, 0.667. A statistically significant difference was determined [P < 0.05]. We also observed an increase in the frequency of IL-1ra A1 allele in the MDRAB-related pneumonia group. A statistically significant difference was determined [P<0.05]. We suggested that IL-1ra polymorphism was associated with the risk of MDRAB-related pneumonia

Association of genetic polymorphisms of glutamate decarboxylase 2 and the dopamine D2 receptor with obesity in Taiwanese subjects

It has been proposed that glutamate decarboxylase 2 and the dopamine D2 receptor are involved in the brain reward cascade to increase carbohydrate craving and cause eating disorders. We investigated the association between the polymorphisms of the CAD2 and DRD2 genes and obesity with a higher body mass index [BMI] in Taiwanese patients. A retrospective, case-control study at Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital from 1 January to 31 December 2009. Of 300 subjects enrolled in the study, 132 were obese [BMI>30 kg/m[2]] and 168 controls were not obese [BMI

Association of interleukin-1 beta [-511C/T] polymorphisms with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women

Osteoprosis is a common disease of the elderly, in which genetic and clinical factors contribute to the disease phenotype. Since the production of interleukin-1 [IL-1] has been implicated in the bone mass and skeletal disorders, we investigated whether IL-1 system polymorphisms are associated with the pathogenesis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Taiwanese women. Osteoporosis is diagnosed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, which measures bone mineral density [BMD] at multiple skeletal sites. We studied the IL-1 alpha [-889C/T], IL-1 beta [-511 C/T] and the 86 base pair variable number tandem repeat [VNTR] in intron 2 of the IL-1 receptor antagonist [IL-1 ra] gene in 117 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and 135 control subjects without a history of symptomatic osteoporosis. These gene polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymerase. Blood sugar and other risk factors were determined. The frequencies of IL-1 beta [-511 C/T] genotypes [P=0.22, odds ratio= 1.972] and alleles [P=0.2, odds ratio=2.909] showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. However, we did not find any statistically significant difference in IL-1 alpha and IL-1 ra polymorphisms [P>0.5]. We also observed a positive relationship between osteoporosis and cholesterol and a weak inverse relationship between blood sugar and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. These experimental results suggest that the pathogenesis of osteoporosis is associated with IL-1 beta [-511 C/T] polymorphism in postmenopausal women. This polymorphism is an independent risk factor for osteoporosis