TY  - EJOU
AU  - Amirzargar, Aliakbar 
AU  - Shahram, Farhad 
AU  - Nikoopour, Enayat 
AU  - Rezaei, Nima 
AU  - Saeedfar, Keyvan 
AU  - Ziaei, Naghmeh 
AU  - Davatchi, Fereydoun 

TI  - Proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms in Behcet’s disease
T2  - European Cytokine Network

PY  - 2010
VL  - 21
IS  - 4
SN  - 1952-4005

AB  - Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic, systemic disease, characterized by oral and genital lesions, andocular inflammation. There is evidence indicating altered levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in patients with BD. This study involved 150 patients with BD and140 healthy controls, and investigated the role of proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms in the disease. Thefrequency of the TNF-α (-238) G/G genotype was significantly higher in the patient group, compared to the controls(p < 0.001), whilst the G/A genotype was significantly lower in the patients with BD (p < 0.001). Patients with BDshowed a significant increase in the TNF-α (- 308, - 238) GG haplotype (p < 0.001), whilst there was a significantdecrease in the GA haplotype (p < 0.001). The heterozygous, IL-6 (- 174) C/G genotype (p = 0.005), and the IL-6(- 174, nt565) haplotype CG (p < 0.001), were significantly decreased in the patient group. The increased productionof proinflammatory cytokines in BD could be a consequence of specific, cytokine gene polymorphisms. Particulargenotypes and haplotypes in TNF-α were over-represented in BD, which may, in turn, predispose individuals tothis disease.
KW  - Behcet’s disease
KW  -  gene polymorphisms
KW  -  interleukin-6
KW  -  tumor necrosis factor alpha

DO  - 10.1684/ecn.2009.0209