association of dc-sign and dc-signr repeat regions with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis in zahedan, southeastern iran

there are conflicting results concerning dc-sign and dc-signr vntr polymorphisms. the present study aimed to evaluate the possible association between dc-sign as well as dc-signr vntr polymorphisms and pulmonary tuberculosis (ptb) in a sample of iranian population. this case-control study was done on 171 ptb and 161 healthy subjects. the variants were detected by polymerase chain reaction (pcr). dc-signr vntr genotypes in cases were 12.7% for 5/5, 2.4% for 6/5, 32.7% for 7/7, 38.2% for 7/5, 5.5% for 7/6, 1.2% for /5, 0.6% for 9/6, 6.7% for 9/7 in ptb patients and 19.7% for 5/5, 2.0% for 6/5, 31.6% for 7/7, 37.5% for 7/5, 5.7% for 7/6, 0.0% for 9/5, 0.7% for 9/6, 2.6% for 9/7 in controls. the findings showed no significant association between dc-signr vntr polymorphism and ptb. all subjects in cases and controls were 7/7 genotype regarding dc-sign vntr polymorphism. our data propose that dc-signr vntr, as well as dc-sign vntr, were not associated with the risk of ptb in a sample of iranian population.