IL-27 Gene Polymorphisms in Iranian Patients with Behcet's Disease

Behcet's Disease (BD) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology, principally characterized by relapsing periods of a broad range of clinical symptoms. Cytokines play fundamental roles in the pathogenesis of BD. Polymorphisms within cytokine genes have been found to play a pathogenic role in the development of autoimmune/inflammatory disorders. Interleukin 27 (IL-27), a new pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokine, is a great candidate for chronic inflammatory disease studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible association between polymorphisms in the IL-27 gene and susceptibility to BD.

Fifty Iranian patients with BD and one hundred healthy individuals were examined for rs153109A/G and rs181206T/C IL-27 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms using RFLP-PCR and ARMS-PCR, respectively. Allele and genotype distributions were compared between groups using chi-square or Fisher's exact test.

Frequencies of the rs153109AA genotype and rs153109A allele were statistically higher in BD patients compared with the control group (p = 0.034 and p = 0.011, respectively). The genotype and allele frequencies of rs181206 T/C polymorphism in BD patients were not significantly different from those of healthy controls.

Present findings demonstrate for the first time that the IL-27 gene rs153109 A/G SNP may be involved in susceptibility to BD in the Iranian population.