Association of interleukin-10, interferon-gamma, transforming growth factor-beta, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene polymorphisms with long-term kidney allograft survival.

INTRODUCTION Single nucleotide polymorphisms within promoter or other regulatory sequences of cytokine genes mainly influence the level of production and secretion of proteins. A large amount of evidence has shown that cytokine gene variations alter graft survival length after kidney transplantation. We studied the association of gene polymorphisms in the interlekin-10 gene (IL10; -1082 G/A), interferon-gamma gene (IFNG; +874 T/A), transforming growth factor-beta gene (TGFB; +869 T/C), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene (TNFA; -308 A/G) with kidney allograft survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS The IL10 (-1082 G/A), IFNG (+874 T/A), TGFB (+869 T/C), and TNFA (-308 A/G) genotypes were determined in 32 kidney allograft recipients with graft rejection during the 1st posttransplant year and 52 without rejection in 5 posttransplant years, using allele-specific oligonucleotides-polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS The IFNG +874 A/T genotype showed a significantly higher frequency among kidney recipients of the rejection group than the control group (odds ratio, 2.64, 95% confidence interval, 1.03 to 6.74; P = .04). Comparisons between the rejection and control groups in IL10 (-1082 G/A), IFNG (+874 T/A), TGFB (+869 T/C), and TNFA (-308 A/G) single nucleotide polymorphisms showed no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS Based on the finding of this study, it seems polymorphisms in the genes that regulate IL-10, IFN-gamma, TGF-beta, and TNF-alpha cytokines do not play a major role in kidney allograft survival, and other potential factors in this regard should be considered.