title: No association of serum levels of interleukin-6 and its soluble receptor components with a genetic variation in the 3'flanking region of the interleukin-6 gene in patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an important role in the regulation of the inflammatory response in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Previous reports indicated that a variable number tandem repeat (vntr) polymorphism in the 3'flanking region of the IL-6 gene (C allele) is associated with altered activity of IL-6 in vivo. Therefore, we analyzed the frequency distribution of IL-6 gene C allele vntr poymorphism in 96 MS patients and 106 ethnically matched healthy controls. Moreover, possible correlations between genotypic differences of IL-6 gene and serum levels of IL-6, soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL6-R), soluble gp130 (sgp130), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were investigated. There were no differences in the allelic distribution of the IL-6 gene C allele between MS patients and healthy controls, and no association of the IL-6 gene C allele with serum levels of IL-6, sIL-6R, spg130, sICAM and sVCAM-1 was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105, Bonn, Germany. stephschm@aol.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papassotiropoulos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bagli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harzheim
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heun
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Klockgether
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C494199:IL6ST protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130