Associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes in cytokine and cytokine receptor genes and immunity to measles vaccination

Abstract

Identification of host genetic determinants of measles vaccine-induced immunity can be used to design better vaccines and ultimately predict immune responses to vaccination.We performed a comprehensive candidate gene association study across 801 genetic markers in 56 cytokine/cytokine receptor genes, in a racially diverse cohort of 745 schoolchildren after two doses of MMR vaccine. Using linear regression methodologies we examined associations between SNPs/haplotypes and measles virus-specific immunity.Forty-eight significant SNP associations with variations in neutralizing antibodies and measles-specific IFNγ Elispot responses were identified (p