Abstract
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with an increased incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). We analyzed 41 patients with proven/probable IA after allo-SCT for an association of SNPs, within the TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, TLR9, and NOD2/CARD15 genes, with susceptibility to IA. The control group consisted of 130 patients who had allo-SCT but did not develop IA. While no association was found for donor SNPs and the recipients’ risk of IA, analysis of recipient SNPs showed a significant association between the presence of recipient TLR5-Stop SNP (1174C> T) and the incidence of IA (P = 0.004). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the recipient TLR5-Stop SNP appeared as an independent risk factor for IA after allo-SCT. Our study suggests that TLR5 is involved in host defense against Aspergillus fumigatus, and that the recipient TLR5-Stop SNP represents a risk factor for the development of IA after allo-SCT.
Acknowledgments
We thank Michael Rehli and Claudia Gebhard for their excellent technical support.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
This work was supported by grants QLRT-2000-00010 (‘EUROBANK’), QLRT-CT-2001-01936 (‘TRANSEUROPE’) and MRTN-CT-2004–512253 (‘TRANS-NET’) from the European Commission.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 8 July 2013.
Notice of correction
The Early Online version of this article published online ahead of print on 17 July 2013 contained two passages appearing twice. This has been corrected for this version.