Association of cytokine gene polymorphism with susceptibility andd clinical types of leprosy

Both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are implicated in development and prognosis of leprosy so the genetic regulation of such cytokines could play an important role. This study was planned for testing the association of cytokine gene polymorphisms with susceptibility and clinical types of leprosy among Egyptian cases. This study included 47 cases [29 men, 18 females, mean age = 46.3 years] with leprosy in addition to 98 healthy unrelated controls [52 males, 46 females, mean age = 44.9 years]. Cases were recruited from Leprosy Clinics, Delta region of Egypt. Cases were classified into paucibacillary [PB] [n=17; 10 males, 7 females; mean age 42.6 years] and multibacillary [MB] [n= 29; 19 males, 10 females; mean age 43.9 years]. For all cases and controls, DNA was extracted and amplified using polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers [PCR-SSP] for detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] in the promoter regions of cytokine genes, TNF - alpha - 308 [G/A], IL-10-1082[G/A], IL-6-174[G/C] as well as IL-1RaVNTR in intron 2 of the gene. Compared to controls, all cases have shown increased frequency of homozygous genotypes: IL-10-1082 [GG] [Odds ratio 6.6, P <0.05], homozygous TNF-alpha-308 [GG] [Odds ratio = 3.23], and homozygous IL-1Ra [11] [Odds ratio = 3.6, P<0.05] with increased frequency of IL10 G and ILRa 1 alleles [P<0.05] with increased frequency of IL10G allele [P<0.05]. On the other hand, MB subgroup showed increased frequency of homozygous TNF-alpha-308 [GG] [Odds ratio = 5.84, P<0.05]. and homozygous IL-1Ra [11] [Odds ratio= 4, P<0.05] with increased frequency of IL-1Ra 1 allele [P<0.05]. There is predominance for heterozygous IL-6-174 [G/C] polymorphism in all studies patient subgroups as well as controls with no significant difference among them. Genetic polymorphisms related to TNF-alpha-308 and IL-10-1082 and IL-1Ra may be used as genetic markers for susceptibility and clinical outcome of leprosy among Egyptian cases from the Nile Delta