title: Lack of association between pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha) gene polymorphisms and Graves' disease.
abstract: Graves' disease (GD) is a common, autoimmune disease involving the thyroid gland, and it has been previously suggested that pro-inflammatory cytokines are involved in the disease's pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to test whether the interleukin (IL)-6 gene promoter region, or tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha or IL-8 gene 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) polymorphisms could provide useful genetic markers for an individual's susceptibility to GD. A normal control group of 60 healthy people and 95 patients featuring GD were examined. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based restriction analysis was performed for the three gene polymorphisms using endonucleases BsrBI, NcoI and ApaLI, respectively. We found no significant difference between the frequencies of genotype and allelic variants for the IL-6 gene promoter (-572 G/C), the TNF-alpha gene promoter (-308 A/G) and the IL-8 gene 3'-UTR (2767 A/G) for GD patients and for normal controls. Cytokines are a large group of proteins that may elicit multiple effects upon immunological reactions. It still appears to be very worthwhile to continue to aggressively search for cytokine gene polymorphisms in order to predict the development of such disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: R-H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: W-C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: T-Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: F-J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D016207:Cytokines