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Original Article

 

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of TNFA and IL1 in Allergic Rhinitis

 

R Nasiri,1,2,3 A Akbar Amirzargar,4 M Movahedi,1 A Hirbod-Mobarakeh,4,5,6 E Farhadi,4 N Behniafard,1 M Tavakkol,1 B Ansaripour,4 B Moradi,4 A Zare,2 N Rezaei1,4,5

1Pediatrics Center of Excellence, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2Immunology, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3Department of Pediatrics, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
4Molecular Immunology Research Center; and Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
5Research Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6Students’ Scientifi c Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2013; Vol. 23(7): 455-461

 

 Abstract


Background: Allergic rhinitis is a complex polygenic disorder of the upper respiratory tract. Given that proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL) 1 seem to play a role in the development of allergic rhinitis, we evaluated the associations between various single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the TNF and IL1 genes in a case-control study.

Methods: The study population comprised 98 patients with allergic rhinitis. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers for 2 TNFA promoter variants (rs1800629 and rs361525), 1 variant in the promoter region of IL1A (rs1800587), 2 SNPs in the IL1B gene (rs16944 and rs1143634), 1 variant in the IL1 receptor (rs2234650), and 1 in IL1RA (rs315952).

Results: Patients who were homozygous for the T allele of rs16944 in IL1B had an 8.1-fold greater risk of allergic rhinitis than those with the C allele. In TNFA, a significant relationship was also detected between rs1800629 and rs361525 and allergic rhinitis. Except for rs1800587 in IL1A and rs315952 in IL1RA, significant differences were found between the patient and control groups for all other SNPs.

Conclusions: We found that allelic variants in the TNFA and IL1 genes were not only associated with the risk of developing allergic rhinitis, but also affected disease course and severity.

Key words: Allergic rhinitis. Genetic susceptibility. Single-nucleotide polymorphism. Proinflammatory cytokines. Tumor necrosis factor.
Interleukin 1 family.