Meta-analysis of Association Between the +49A/G Polymorphism of Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen-4 and Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Cytotoxic-T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) has been shown to play an important role in the development and progression of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). A number of case-control studies focused on the association between CTLA-4 +49A/G polymorphism and risk for TAO. But the results were not always consistent. So we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the precise association between this polymorphism and risk for TAO.

Materials and methods: All publications on the association between CTLA-4 +49A/G polymorphism and TAO were searched in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane library and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, with the last report up to May 2014. This meta-analysis was assessed by Review Manager 5.1.

Results: A total of 14 studies were involved in this meta-analysis, including 1128 cases and 2539 controls. Overall, we found a significant association between CTLA-4 +49A/G polymorphism and TAO (G versus A: OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.40–1.92, p < 0.00001; GG versus AG + AA: OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.59–2.57, p < 0.00001; GG + AG versus AA: OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.66–2.43, p < 0.00001; GG versus AA: OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.83–4.10, p < 0.00001; AG versus AA: OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.42–2.15, p < 0.00001). The results were not materially altered after the studies which did not fulfill Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were excluded. Significant association was also detected in both Caucasian and Asian populations in subgroup analysis divided by different ethnicity.

Conclusion: Our meta-analysis supports the association between the CTLA-4 +49A/G polymorphism and TAO.

• Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4
• polymorphism
• thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy

Acknowledgments

We thank everyone who has helped with this study.

Declaration of interest

Our work is supported by National Nature and Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81070758 and 81371056).

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

The authors declared that no commercial relationship existed in the form of financial support or personal financial interest.

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary Figures S1 and S2.

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed at www.tandfonline.com/icey