Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and tumour necrosis factor-alpha gene polymorphisms in Turkish patients with allergic contact dermatitis.

BACKGROUND

It has been shown that the family of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 RA) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) genes are polymorphic and related to some inflammatory diseases. Allergic contact dermatitis is the classic presentation of delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to exogenous agents. A number of genes playing role in inflammatory response may be associated with allergic contact dermatitis.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether there is an association between IL-1RA and TNFalpha gene polymorphisms and allergic contact dermatitis in Turkish patients with allergic contact dermatitis.

METHODS

This study was performed by the collaboration of Departments of Dermatology and Medical Genetics, Ege University, Faculty of Medicine. A total of 50 patients (31 females and 19 males) with allergic contact dermatitis, and 100 age- and sex-matched controls (58 females and 42 males) were included in the study. IL-1RA Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in intron 2 and TNFalpha-308G-A polymorphism were genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction and agarose gel electrophoresis.

RESULTS

The frequency of IL-1RA 1/2 (48%) genotype was significantly higher (P = 0.002) in patient group than that is found in control group (22%). The frequency of TNFalpha (TNF G-308A) G/G genotype was significantly higher in patient group (68%) than that is found in control group (31%) (P = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that TNFalpha (G/G) gene polymorphism may play role in susceptibility to allergic contact dermatitis in Turkish patients.