title: Association of Ficolin-2 Serum Levels and FCN2 Genetic Variants with Indian Visceral Leishmaniasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), one of the neglected tropical diseases, is endemic in the Indian subcontinent. Ficolins are circulating serum proteins of the lectin complement system and involved in innate immunity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have estimated ficolin-2 serum levels and analyzed the functional variants of the encoding gene FCN2 in 218 cases of VL and in 225 controls from an endemic region of India.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elevated levels of serum ficolin-2 were observed in VL cases compared to the controls (adjusted P<0.0001). The genetic analysis revealed that the FCN2 structural variant +6359 C>T (p.T236M) was associated with VL (OR=2.2, 95% CI=1.23-7.25, P=0.008) and with high ficolin-2 serum levels. We also found that the FCN2*AAAC haplotype occurred more frequently among healthy controls when compared to cases (OR=0.59, 95%CI=0.37-0.94, P=0.023).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that the FCN2 variant +6359C>T is associated with the occurrence of VL and that ficolin-2 serum levels are elevated in Leishmania infections.
authors.affiliation: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Anshuman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Justin S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Antony
authors.affiliation: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Pandarisamy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sundaravadivel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hoang Van
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Reshma D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Jalli
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Medicale, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: Thirumalaisamy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Velavan
authors.affiliation: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Kumarasamy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thangaraj
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058069:Neglected Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult; D000097604:Ficolins
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D000097604:Ficolins