title: Influence of TNF and IL10 gene polymorphisms in the immunopathogenesis of leprosy in the south of Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether cytokine polymorphisms are associated with leprosy and/or their subtypes in a Brazilian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Genotyping using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) was performed for: TNF(-308/-238), IL2(-330/+166), IL6(-174), IFNG(+874), TGFB1(+869/+915), and IL10(-592/-819/-1082) in 240 healthy controls and 167 patients with leprosy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For TNF(-308), a higher frequency of GG genotype (85.5% vs. 74.1% in healthy controls, p = 0.009), along with a decreased frequency of GA/AA genotypes was observed among leprosy patients as compared to the control group (14.5% vs. 25.9%, p = 0.009). The GG genotype was particularly higher in patients with tuberculoid (TT) and borderline (BB) leprosy (90.5% and 89.8%, respectively). Analysis of IL10 genotypes revealed a lower frequency of GCC/GCC haplotype in lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients (6.2%) in comparison to controls (15.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is suggested that the G-->A substitution at position -308 in the TNF promoter region plays an important role in leprosy patients.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunogenética, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Maringá, PR, CEP 87020-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Danilo Santana Alessio
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.forename: Priscila Saamara
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Mazini
authors.forename: Cristiane Conceição Chagas
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Rudnick
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.forename: Luiza Tamie
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Tsuneto
authors.forename: Maria Lúcia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ribas
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Peixoto
authors.forename: Jeane Eliete Laguila
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Visentainer
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000235:genetics*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012016:Reference Values; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10