No evidence for a role of the coding variant of the Toll-like receptor 4 gene in temporal lobe epilepsy

PURPOSE There is evidence that inflammatory mechanisms play a role in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Coding variants in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene have been reported to be associated with inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether a functional polymorphism rs4986790 in the TLR4 gene is associated with susceptibility and clinical features of TLE. METHODS A total of 345 patients with TLE and 370 age-matched controls were genotyped using TaqMan Allelic Discrimination assays, on an Applied Biosystems PCR platform. RESULTS There was no significant difference in allele frequency or genotype of TLR4 between TLE patients and controls. Moreover, the clinical characteristics of these patients were unrelated to the presence of this polymorphism. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that rs4986790 in the TLR4 gene is unlikely to influence significantly the risk of developing TLE or its severity.