Association between interleukin-12B gene polymorphisms and multiple sclerosis in turkish population

Abstract

Elevated levels of IL-12p40 have been observed in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum of MS patients, and it has been suggested that genetic variants in the IL-12B gene may contribute to MS susceptibility and/or pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the association between MS and IL-12B gene rs17860508 and rs3212227 polymorphisms in the Turkish population. We identified two polymorphic regions in the IL-12B gene using bioinformatics tools and genotyped 351 MS patients and 221 healthy controls for these variants. Our results showed a significant association between the IL-12B rs17860508 polymorphism and MS, but no significant relationship between rs17860508 genotype distribution and allele frequency and MS age onset or subtypes. Genotype distribution and allele frequency of IL-12B rs3212227 polymorphism did not show any significant association with MS directly. However, AC genotype of IL-12B rs3212227 polymorphism in early-onset multiple sclerosis (EOMS) was a risk factor according to age of onset. Additionally, we observed a higher risk for the relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) subtype in females. This is the first study to investigate the association between IL-12B polymorphisms and MS in the Turkish population.