The effects of gene polymorphisms in interleukin-4 and interleukin-6 on the susceptibility of rheumatoid arthritis in a Chinese population.
BACKGROUND
Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been reported to associate with pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however, the role of IL-4 and IL-6 genetic polymorphisms in RA remains unknown.


METHODS
A total of 752 unrelated Chinese patients with RA and 798 healthy Chinese volunteers with no family histories of any autoimmune diseases were recruited. The promoter IL-4-590 C/T and IL-6-174 G/C polymorphisms were genotyped.


RESULTS
The genotype distributions and allele frequencies of IL-4-590 C/T and IL-6-174 G/C polymorphisms in RA patients were significantly different from healthy volunteers. Statistically significant differences were observed in genotypes for IL-4-590 and IL-6-174. The frequencies of both the T allele on the IL-4-590 and the C on the IL-6-174 were significantly increased in RA patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The IL-4-590 and IL-6-174 promoter polymorphisms may be associated with increased risk of RA and could be used as genetic marker for assessing the susceptibility and severity of RA in Chinese.
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Xiang
0000-0002-4363-4674
X
Li
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Wei
W
Chai
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Ming
M
Ni
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Meng
M
Xu
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Zijian
Z
Lian
Department of Orthopaedics, University of Chicago Hospital, Maryland Avenue, Chicago, ll 60673, USA.
Lewis
L
Shi
Department of Stomatology, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Yang
Y
Bai
Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Fuxing Road No. 28, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China.
Yan
Y
Wang
D000483:Alleles; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
C508598:IL4 protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D015847:Interleukin-4