Patent ID: 7141367

Claim:
A method to detect a polymorphism in a human TLR4 gene, comprising: detecting or determining whether ampliuied TLR4 DNA obtained from a human nucleic acid sample comprises nucleic acid encoding ThR4 polypeptide having an amino acid substitution at residue 299 or 399 of TLR4, wherein the amplified TLR4 DNA is obtained by contacting an amount of the nucleic acid sample with an amount of at least one TLR4-specific oligonucleotide under conditions effective to amplify TLR4 DNA having SEQ ID NO:62, the complement thereof, or a portion thereof, and wherein the TLR4-specific oligonucleotide comprises at least two nucleotide substitutions which result in a restriction site that is indicative of a polymorphism in a human TLR4 gene, which polymorohism results in a TLR4 gene that encodes a TLR4 polypeptide with an amino acid substitution at residue 299 or 399.