title: IL-6 promoter polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: We investigated the possible association between the IL-6 promoter polymorphisms, at positions -622 and -174, and susceptiblity to, and/or outcome of, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A total of 163 patients with RA and 157 healthy controls were genotyped for IL-6 using a PCR-RFLP method. The -622 and -174 alleles were in complete linkage disequilibrium. No difference was observed in the distribution of IL-6 promoter genotype or allele frequencies between RA patients and controls. However, a significant difference in the mean age at disease onset between IL-6 genotypes was observed. The present data appear to rule out an important role of IL-6 promoter polymorphisms in the susceptibility to RA. However, IL-6 genotypes may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease by influencing the age at disease onset.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra, CSIC, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nieto
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Matarán
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balsa
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pascual-Salcedo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martín
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000483:Alleles; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics*; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6