Genetic polymorphisms of IL-27 and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus disease in the Egyptian population.

Objective: Cytokine polymorphisms have been associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenicity. Interleukin 27 (IL-27) is an important one of pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokine. It has been reported in various Th1/Th17-mediated inflammatory disorders, and even in Th2-complexed diseases, such as SLE. In our preliminary study, the aim was to investigate the potential roles of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) -964A/G (rs153109) and + 2905 T/G (rs17855750) in an IL-27p28 gene on susceptibility to SLE.

Methods: The 112 Egyptian SLE patients against 101 healthy persons were enrolled in this work. The polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) is used for genotyping IL-27 SNPs.

Results: No significant variations were found between patients and control in the genotype and allele frequencies of IL-27p28 (-964A/G). SLE patients have a significant increase in the frequency of IL-27p28 (+ 2905 T/G) TG genotype (P < 0.01) and G allele (P < 0.01) compared to controls. Complete disappearance of GG genotype was demonstrated in both groups. G allele might have considered a disease risk factor with odd ration (OR) = 9.184. From four possible haplotypes, the frequency of AT haplotype elevated in both examined groups.

Conclusion: This was the first study on the Egyptian population for studying the relation between IL-27 SNPs and SLE. Our preliminary study indicated that both TG genotype and G allele of IL-27p28 (+ 2905 T/G) could consider risk factors for SLE. Key Points • This article provides an information about the relation between systemic lupus erythematosus and interleukin-27 cytokine by detection single nucleotide polymorphism.