7a73a42d-0089-4440-9a4b-6d088a85e53f
title
Interleukin 1alpha  single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with systemic sclerosis.
03e3cd17-15a1-4d9f-a85e-858dbbcc6392
abstract
OBJECTIVE: In systemic sclerosis (SSc), constitutive expression of the proinflammatory and fibrogenic cytokine interleukin 1alpha ( IL-1alpha ) by dermal fibroblasts from the affected skin has been observed. We investigated the association of a single-nucleotide polymorphism at position -889 in the  IL-1alpha  gene in patients with SSc. METHODS: Genotyping of  IL-1alpha -889 polymorphism was performed in 46 patients with SSc and in 150 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. All subjects were unrelated Slovak Caucasians. RESULTS: In SSc patients, carriers of the  IL-1alpha-889 T allele  were significantly overrepresented in comparison with controls (63.0% vs 42.0%; p = 0.01, OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.6). The frequency of the  IL-1alpha-889 T allele  was increased in SSc patients (38.0%) in comparison with controls (25.7%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The  IL-1alpha -889 polymorphism, previously shown to predispose to increased IL-1 protein expression, may be involved in susceptibility to SSc.