title: IL-10 and IL-12B gene polymorphisms in a multiethnic Malaysian population.
abstract: Inheritance of polymorphisms in the interleukin (IL)-10 promoter and IL-12B genes, which influence cytokine production and activities, may define the balance in T helper response in infection and autoimmune diseases. In the present study, we investigated the distribution of the IL-10 promoter and IL-12B gene polymorphisms in a multiethnic Malaysian population. Overall, our findings suggest that the IL-12B and IL-10 -592 genotypes were distributed homogenously across all major ethnic groups, including Malays, Chinese, and Indians, except for polymorphisms at IL-10 -1082. At this gene locus, the ethnic Chinese showed a significantly lower allele frequency of -1082G (2.1%) compared to the Malay (12.2%) and Indian (15.3%) populations. Results for the IL-12B and IL-10 gene polymorphisms were consistent with those reported for the Asian population, but markedly different from those of the African and Caucasian populations. Our findings suggest that there are specific genetic variations between different ethnic groups, which should be examined in all gene population-based association studies.
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sam
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Teoh
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sazaly@um.edu.my.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: AbuBakar
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000235:genetics*; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40 / Q000235:genetics*; D008296:Malaysia; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: C508609:IL10 protein, human; C500879:IL12B protein, human; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; D016753:Interleukin-10