Role of the CCL2/MCP-1 -2518A>G gene polymorphism in HLA-B27 associated uveitis.
OBJECTIVE
Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is the most common form of uveitis. Up to 50% of patients with AAU are HLA-B27 positive. Since HLA B27 itself plays only a minor role in the overall genetic background, other genetic variants are likely to contribute to the susceptibility to AAU. The chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) gene, coding for monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a chemotactic cytokine, is involved in the induction of uveitis. A CCL2 gene polymorphism, which is characterized by an A>G substitution at nucleotide -2518 in the promoter region of CCL2 has been previously shown to affect MCP-1 synthesis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate a hypothesized association between this genetic variant and the presence of HLA-B27 associated AAU.


METHODS
The study group comprised 114 patients with HLA-B27 associated AAU. One hundred and eleven healthy HLA-B27 positive individuals served as the HLA-B27 positive control group, whereas 81 healthy HLA-B27 negative individuals served as a HLA-B27 negative control group. Genotyping for the CCL2 -2518A>G polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction.


RESULTS
Carriers of a CCL2 -2518G allele were found significantly more often in patients with HLA-B27 associated AAU than among HLA-B27 positive controls (49.2% and 31.5%, respectively; odds ratio 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.2-3.6; p=0.007).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that the CCL2 -2518A>G polymorphism may play a role in HLA-B27 associated acute anterior uveitis.
Wegscheider
Beate Julia
BJ
Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria.
Weger
Martin
M
Renner
Wilfried
W
Posch
Ursula
U
Ulrich
Silvia
S
Hermann
Josef
J
Ardjomand
Navid
N
Haller-Schober
Eva-Maria
EM
El-Shabrawi
Yosuf
Y
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014606:Uveitis, Anterior / Q000235:genetics*
C111835:CCL2 protein, human; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen