02274nas a2200445   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653003700080653002500117653001000142653002100152653001100173653003800184653001100222653001100233653002000244653001800264653001200282653000900294653001600303653003000319653002600349653004600375653001600421100001100437700001100448700000900459700001100468700001000479700001100489700001100500700001000511245006900521300001100590490000700601520120600608022001401814       2011                            d  c2011 Dec10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAsian Continental Ancestry Group10aCase-Control Studies10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aFemale10aGenetic Predisposition to Disease10aHumans10aInfant10aInfant, Newborn10aInterleukin-410aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10apolymerase chain reaction10aPolymorphism, Genetic10aPolymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length10aYoung Adult1 aYang D1 aSong H1 aXu W1 aLong H1 aShi C1 aJing Z1 aSong W1 aPei B00aInterleukin 4-590T/C polymorphism and susceptibility to leprosy.  a877-810 v153 a<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Cell-mediated (Th1) immune response and humoral (Th2) immune response play different roles in leprosy infection. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a typical Th2 cytokine. It is a critical mediator of the Th1/Th2 balance.</p><p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>The objective of this study is to investigate the association between IL-4 gene -590T/C polymorphism and the susceptibility to leprosy in a Chinese population.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>The IL-4 variant -590T/C was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 432 leprosy cases and 465 age-matched healthy controls. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Frequencies of the IL-4-590TC and CC genotypes and the -590C allele were significantly lower in patients with leprosy than in healthy controls (odds ratio [OR]=0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.99, p=0.044; OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.84, p=0.010; and OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.54-0.86, p=0.001, respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Our data suggest that the -590T/C polymorphism of the IL-4 gene is associated with decreased susceptibility of leprosy.</p>  a1945-0257