Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor α gene polymorphisms in patients with febrile seizures

Abstract

Inflammation and genetics may play a role in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures (FSs). We aimed to test whether interleukin-1b (IL-1b), IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 Ra), IL-6 promoter, IL-8, IL-10, or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene polymorphisms could be used as markers of susceptibility to FSs. An association study was performed among a cohort of 104 patients with FSs and 143 normal control subjects. There was no significant difference between patients and controls in the distribution of allele frequencies of the IL-1b promoter, IL-1b exon 5, IL-6 promoter, IL-8, IL-10, or TNF-a gene polymorphisms. In contrast, the IL-1 Ra-I homozygote was more frequent in patients with FSs than in healthy controls (93.2% vs. 83.92%, w254.51, P50.034). In addition, individuals homozygous for the IL-1 Ra-I genotype were more than twice as likely to develop FSs than individuals heterozygous for the IL-1 Ra-I/II genotype (OR, 2.63, 95% CI: 1.08-6.39; w254.55, P50.033). We conclude that the IL-1 Ra gene might be one of the useful markers for predicting susceptibility to FSs. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.