Distinctive frequencies of +874T/A IFN-γ gene polymorphism in a healthy Serbian population.

Purpose: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in IFN-γ gene (+874T/A) that determines high (TT), low (AA), and intermediate (TA) responder phenotypes has shown associations with susceptibility to infectious and chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as disease outcome. Therefore, the susceptibility to and outcome of certain diseases can vary in different ethnic populations partially due to the notable differences in frequencies of genotypes and alleles between them. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of +874T/A genotype and allele frequencies in a healthy Serbian population as a reference for further disease association studies.

Materials And Methods: Genomic DNA samples from 166 healthy volunteers were evaluated for IFN-γ SNP at position +874 using TaqMan SNP genotyping assay.

Results: The frequencies of AA, AT, and TT genotypes were 28.9%, 49.4%, and 21.7%, respectively. The A and T allele frequencies were 53.6% and 46.4%.

Conclusions: Analysis of genotype and allele frequencies for IFN-γ+874T/A SNP in healthy subjects revealed, for the first time, the genetic profile for this polymorphism in a Serbian population resembling most European populations, but differing from some Asian and African ethnic groups.