CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms in Chinese patients with ulcerative colitis.
BACKGROUND
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the colon and rectum as a result of an exaggerated T-cell response. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a T cell-restricted surface molecule induced with TCR or CD28 activation. There is evidence for genetic involvement of CTLA-4 in several autoimmune diseases, with the focus on the possible role of genetic variation of the CTLA-4 locus. The aim of this study was to investigate CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms in patients with UC in a Chinese population with Han nationality.


METHODS
The C-318T polymorphism in the promoter region and A+49G polymorphism in exon 1 of the CTLA-4 gene were studied by a polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primer method. We studied 82 unrelated patients with UC and 204 healthy controls in a Chinese population with Han nationality.


RESULTS
The frequency of the haplotype 2,3 (-318C+49G/-318T+49A) was 26% in patients with UC and 41% in healthy controls (Fisher exact test P = 0.0147, odds ratio = 0.4918, 95% confidence interval: 0.2784 - 0.8688), but this significance disappeared when Bonferoni correction was applied. No other significant differences in the distribution of allele and genotype frequencies were observed between C-318T and A+49G gene polymorphisms and UC in the Chinese Han population.


CONCLUSIONS
The C-318T and A+49G polymorphisms of the CTLA-4 gene were not associated with UC in Chinese Han patients.
Department of Internal Medicine and Research Center of Digestive Diseases, Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan, China.
Wei
W
Hou
Bing
B
Xia
Anlong
A
Yuan
Jin
J
Li
Zhanqiu
Z
Yang
Lin
L
Mao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556706:CTLA4 protein, human