Th1 and Th2 Cytokine Gene Polymorphism in Iranian Patients with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Background:It has been hypothesized that genetic factors other than histocompatibility disparity may play a role in predisposition to developing Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). In this regard, Th1 and Th2 cytokines and their gene polymorphism seems to be important. Overall expression and secretion of cytokines is dependent, at least in part, on genetic polymorphism (nucleotide variations) within the promoter region or other regulatory sequences of cytokine genes. The majority of polymorphisms described are single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic profile of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in 30 Iranian patients with CML and 40 healthy subjects. Methods: In the patients and control subjects, the allelic and genotype frequencies were determined for the cytokine genes. All typing were performed by PCR-SSP assay. Allele and genotype frequencies were calculated and compared with those of normal controls. Results: The results showed that the most frequent alleles in our patients were TGF-b TG/TG, IL-4 T at position -1089, C at position -590, T at position -33 and IL-10 A at position -1082. Whereas the following alleles - TGF-b CG/CG and IL-10 C at position -592 – were seen in much lower frequencies. Conclusion: In conclusion, it could be suggested that the frequency of high producing TGF-b alleles and low producing IL-4 and IL-10 alleles in the CML patients is higher than the normal subjects.