Leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is still considered a relevant public health problem in Brazil, affecting the peripheral nervous system which can result in physical disabilities. It is considered a complex disease and during pathogenhost interaction the genetic background of the host determine the course of the disease that presents in a spectral range from localized lesions to the disseminated disease with high bacillary index. In this study, we evaluated in the Brazilian population the association with leprosy of -336A/G (rs4804803) SNP in the CD209 gene. This gene encodes DC-SIGN receptor, that is present on the surface of dendritic cells and participates in the recognition of M. leprae. The study population included 835 individuals (424 controls and 411 cases). The GG genotype of this SNP was associated with the multibacillary form of leprosy (OR 4.52, CI 1.01-20.09, p = 0.0472) and the A allele was associated with protection against multibacillary form (OR 0.22, IC 0.05-0.98, p = 0.0478). We performed functional studies using dendritic cells stimulated with bacillus antigens and found that carriers of the G allele expressed lower levels of DC-SIGN and CD80 receptors and secreted less TNF and more TGF-β1 against bacilli antigens. Together, these data suggest a lower efficiency of the G allele carriers in activating the effective immune response against M. leprae.
}, year = {2017}, url = {https://repositorio.unesp.br/handle/11449/151373}, language = {por}, }