Assessment of Toll-like receptor 2 gene polymorphisms in severe chronic rhinosinusitis.
BACKGROUND
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is believed to reflect an inflammatory response of the sinonasal mucosa to bacteria and/or fungi. Staphylococcus aureus, a gram-positive organism, is frequently implicated. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is involved in innate immunity, recognizing gram-positive organisms via detection of bacterial lipopeptides. As a poor response to sinus surgery has been associated with reduced levels of TLR2 expression, and given the frequent recovery of S. aureus in this condition, we suspected that polymorphisms in TLR2 genes are implicated in this condition.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLR2 gene and CRS.


METHODS
Two hundred six patients with severe CRS and 200 controls were recruited prospectively. A maximally informative set of SNPs in the gene encoding TLR2 were selected from the HapMap data set and genotyped.


RESULTS
Eleven of 12 SNPs were successfully genotyped. No significant associations could be detected for the SNPs tested within the limitations of our study, which has the power to detect only those SNPs with a relative risk of 2.0 or greater.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings do not support a role for polymorphisms in the TLR2 gene in the pathogenesis of CRS. Nevertheless, other genetic variants within genes regulating innate immunity may be involved and will require further assessment.
Tewfik
Marc A
MA
Department of Otolaryngology, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal , Quebec. marc.tewfik@mail.mcgill.ca
Bossé
Yohan
Y
Hudson
Thomas J
TJ
Vallée-Smejda
Sophie
S
Al-Shemari
Hasan
H
Desrosiers
Martin
M
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000235:genetics*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000235:genetics*; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2 / Q000235:genetics*
D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2