title: An assessment of the association between IL-2 gene polymorphisms and Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a cytokine intimately involved with both the function and regulation of the immune system. Genetic analysis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) provides strong evidence supporting the candidacy of IL-2 as a susceptibility gene. We investigated the association of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at position -384 in the promoter region and +114 in the first exon of the IL-2 gene through a case-control study involving 113 Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 118 healthy controls. Our results showed no significant differences in the distribution of the two polymorphisms between MS patients and controls. Furthermore, no association was observed between IL-2 gene polymorphisms and clinical characteristics, such as clinical course and age at disease onset. Together, our findings suggest that IL-2 gene polymorphisms do not influence the susceptibility to MS or the clinical characteristics of MS in Japanese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-15 Nishi-7, Kita-ku, 060-8638 Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niino
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukazawa
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yabe
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tashiro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2