SLC11A1 gene polymorphisms in Korean patients with Behçet's disease

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the potential susceptibility to the solute carrier family 11 member 1 (SLC11A1) gene polymorphisms of Korean patients with Behçet's disease (BD).

Methods: Ninety‐nine patients with BD and 98 controls were recruited. Analyses of three polymorphisms of the SLC11A1 gene [the 5′‐promoter (GT)_n, D543N and A318V] were performed, either by denaturing high‐performance liquid chromatography for D543N and A318V or by using automatic DNA sequencing for the (GT)_n. The genotypes and alleles between patients with BD and the controls were compared using the χ² test and Yate's correction test.

Results: No significant differences were found in the distribution of genotypes and alleles of the (GT)_n polymorphism between BD patients and the controls. However, subjects with the allele 3 or the genotype allele 3/allele 3 of this polymorphism had a significantly lower risk of developing BD than those without this allele or genotype [allele: p = 0.029, p_c = 0.039, odds ratio (OR) = 0.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37–0.95; genotype: p = 0.036, p_c = 0.048, OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.31–0.96]. In addition, the distributions of genotypes and alleles of D543N were similar between BD patients and controls (p>0.05). In the case of A318V, all of the BD patients and controls had a wild‐type genotype.

Conclusion: The allele 3 and the genotype allele 3/allele 3 of the 5′‐promoter (GT)_n in the SLC11A1 gene may have a protective effect for the development of BD in the Korean population. Further studies in other populations are required to confirm our results.