title: CTLA-4 A49G gene polymorphism is not associated with vitiligo in South Indian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vitiligo or leukoderma is a chronic skin condition that causes loss of pigment due to destruction of melanocytes, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin. Vitiligo is a polygenic disease and is associated with autoimmunity with an unknown etiology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  One of the candidate genes which has a strong association with several autoimmune diseases is CTLA-4 gene located in chromosome 2q33 region. We investigated the possible association between CTLA-4 gene polymorphism in exon 1 (A49G) and vitiligo in patients from South India and compared the distribution of this polymorphism to matched control groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  The polymorphism was detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method in 175 patients and 180 normal, age/ethnicity matched individuals. Consistency of genotype frequencies with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested using a chi(2) test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference between the genotype (P = 0.93) and allele (P = 0.615) frequencies of CTLA-4 A49G polymorphism in patients and normal healthy individuals. However there was significant association of the CTLA-4 genotype (P = 0.02) and allelic frequency (P = 0.008) between the segmental and non-segmental sub groups within vitiligo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that there is no association between CTLA-4 A49G gene polymorphism and vitiligo in southern Indian population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Osmania University, India.
authors.forename: Farha
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Deeba
authors.forename: Rabbani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Jariya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quareen
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Waheed
authors.forename: Kaiser
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jamil
authors.forename: Hanmanth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rao