Abstract
Objectives. Gout is a polygenic auto-inflammatory disease, in which inflammation plays an important role in disease pathogenesis. The cytokine interleukin (IL)-23 promotes inflammation and helps to guide inflammatory cells, while studies have shown that the IL-23R gene is associated with susceptibility to several immune-related diseases. This study aimed to determine whether the IL-23R rs7517847 (G/T) polymorphism is associated with gout in a Chinese Han male population.
Methods. We recruited 400 patients with gout and 582 gout-free controls. After obtaining blood samples for DNA extraction, genotyping of the rs7517847 polymorphism was performed by fluorescence-based quantitative PCR using TaqMan probes. An association analysis was carried out using the χ2 test. A genotype–phenotype analysis was also conducted.
Results. Both genotypic and allelic frequencies of rs7517847 differed significantly between gout patients and controls (χ2 = 6.792, df = 2, P = 0.034 by genotype; χ2 = 4.202, df = 1, P = 0.04 by allele).
Conclusions. IL-23R may be associated with gout in a Chinese Han male population, although our findings should be confirmed using larger sample sizes and other independent populations.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (81070686, 31371272 and 81100621).
Conflict of interest
None.