Interleukin-33 gene expression and rs1342326 polymorphism in Behçet's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic multi-factorial inflammatory disease with the important role of genetic in activation of its inflammatory response. Interleukin (IL)-33 is a member of the IL-1 family of cytokines that affects innate and adaptive immune systems to promote inflammatory responses. In the current study, we investigated the association of IL-33 gene rs1342326 polymorphism and expression levels of this gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with the susceptibility to BD in Azari population of Iran. METHODS: We recruited 44 patients with BD and 61 age and sex-matched healthy controls in this cross-sectional study. The existence of rs1342326 T/G IL-33 gene single nucleotide polymorphism was investigated using Tetra-Amplification Refractory Mutation System (Tetra-ARMS)-PCR. Allele and genotype distributions were evaluated among groups using chi-square or Fisher's test. Moreover, the mRNA levels of IL-33 in PBMCs were assessed through the Real-time PCR. RESULTS: Patients with BD exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of the T/G genotype of rs1342326 polymorphism compared with the control group. Moreover, the expression level of IL-33 in PBMCs was significantly higher in the BD group compared to the healthy controls. Interestingly, the rs1342326 T/G polymorphism was associated with higher IL-33 expression in patients with BD. There was no association between the clinical manifestation of BD and disease activity with rs1342326 polymorphism and IL-33 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study implies that rs1342326 T/G polymorphism of the IL-33 gene may contribute to the genetic susceptibility to BD in part through regulation of the IL-33 expression.

Molecular analysis of interleukin-10 gene polymorphisms in patients with Behçet's disease.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is a cytokine with potent anti-inflammatory properties that play a fundamental role in restrictive host immune response to pathogens, by means of that is a crucial importance for chronic inflammatory disease studies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to measure the correlation of the IL-10 gene polymorphisms with the susceptibility to Behçet's disease compared with the control group in the Azeri population and to determine the expression of this gene in the two groups. Also, real-time PCR was performed for evaluate the IL-10 mRNA expression of the associated polymorphisms. METHODS: In this study, blood samples from 47 (1 missed) patients and 58 (3 missed) healthy control were taken, and then mononuclear cells isolated with ficoll protocol. The DNA and RNA were subsequently extracted. They were examined for -592A/C (rs1800872) of IL-10 gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) using RFLP-PCR. Allele and genotype distributions were evaluated among groups using chi-square or Fisher's test. Following this, the extracted RNA was converted to cDNA using the RT-PCR method, after that expression of IL-10 evaluated by Real-time PCR. Serum levels of IL-10 were measured using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Rates of the rs1800872 A allele was statistically lower in the control group compared with BD patients (p = 0.0315 and OR = 1.90 (1.05-3.42)). Also, as we expected, the expression level of the IL-10 gene was seen to significantly decrease in the patient group compared to the control. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the rs1800872 A allele of the IL-10 gene may contribute to the genetic susceptibility of BD by regulating the expression of IL-10. Also as we expected, the expression level of this gene was seen to significantly decrease in the patient group compared to the control.