association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in toll-like recep¬tors with acinetobacter baumanii infectionin a chinese popu¬lation

background: during recent years, infection of acinetobacter baumanii showed a rapid growth in hospitals and community. toll-like receptors (tlrs) are the most important pattern recognition receptors, which play a critical role during recognizing invading pathogens by the natural immune system. our objective was to determine the associations of tlrs polymorphisms with the susceptibility to a. baumanii infection in a chinese population. methods: we carried out a case-control study, genotyping 13 polymorphisms of tlr-2, tlr-4, tlr-5 and tlr-9 genes on 423 a. baumanii -infected patients and 385 exposed controls. thirteen snps at the tlr-2 (rs3804099, rs7656411 and rs76112010), tlr-4 (rs1927914, rs10759932 and rs11536889), tlr-5 (rs1341987, rs1640827, rs1861172, rs2241097, rs5744174 and rs17163737) and tlr9 (rs187084) genes were analyzed. snp genotyping was performed using an improved multiplex ligation detection reaction (imldr) technique. results:   the snp of tlr-9, rs187084, was related to a. baumanii -infection significantly under recessive model (g/g, to a/a + g/a, p = 0.0064, or = 0.59, 95% ci = 0.40-0.86) after adjustment with age. besides, the haplotype gcg of tlr-4 was significantly associated with a. baumanii infection ( p = 0.027). conclusion:   tlr-4 and tlr-9 may be related to the susceptibility to a. baumanii infection in a chinese population.