A CD14 monocyte receptor polymorphism and genetic susceptibility to Parkinson's disease for females

Recent studies suggest that inflammation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Because the C(-260) --> T polymorphism in the promoter of the CD14 monocyte receptor gene (pCD14) could affect the predisposition to the inflammatory response, we conducted a case-control study to investigate a possible genetic susceptibility of the pCD14 polymorphism in patients with PD. This study included 200 sporadic PD patients and 200 controls, matched by sex and case-control pairs for age at onset in the case. All observed genotype frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Results revealed that the CD14-T allele of the pCD14 polymorphism in the female PD patients existed statistically significant difference from that of the female controls (OR = 1.262, P = 0.038), but not for male. Female individuals with homozygote CD14-TT genotype were significantly increased risk of PD by 1.28 time (P = 0.027). Furthermore, a logistic regression analysis confirmed that the homozygote CD14-TT genotype was an independent risk factor for PD (OR = 1.576, P = 0.030). In conclusion, results of this study indicate the pCD14 polymorphism to be a genetic risk factor for PD in females.