The interleukin (IL)-16 gene polymorphisms and risk of coronary artery disease in chinese Han population

Abstract

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that interleukin (IL)-16 is an immunomodulatory cytokine, which plays an important role in some inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. We aimed to investigate the association between the IL-16 gene polymorphisms and presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) where inflammatory processes are involved. Methods: This cohort study enrolled 451 CAD patients confirmed by coronary angiography and 338 control subjects. Four tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) (rs4577037-rs3848180- rs8034928-rs1131445) within the IL-16 gene and the polymorphism rs11556218, which is a missense mutation, were genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Serum IL-16 level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In patients with CAD, the serum level of IL-16 was significantly higher than in controls (97.6(plus or minus)10.7 vs. 66.5(plus or minus)9.6, p=0.021). By using multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and lipid profile (total cholesterol, total triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein), the allele and genotype frequencies of rs4577037 and rs1131445 were not different between CAD and control groups (p>0.05). However, the associations of the polymorphisms rs11556218, rs3848180 and rs8034928 with CAD were significant (Table). Conclusion: The study indicated that the IL-16 polymorphisms were associated with the presence of CAD in Chinese Han population. It warrants further investigation whether the IL-16 gene participates in the development of CAD.