IL-10 promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms are significantly associated with resistance to leprosy.

The minor haplotype -3575A/-2849G/-2763C in IL-10 promoter has been defined as a marker of disease resistance to leprosy and its severity in Brazilian population. Our investigation of six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-10 promoter in 282 Indian leprosy patients and 266 healthy controls by direct PCR sequencing, however, showed that the extended haplotype: -3575T/-2849G/-2763C/-1082A/-819C/-592C was associated with resistance to leprosy per se and to the development of severe form of leprosy, using either a binomial (controls vs cases, P=0.01, OR=0.58, CI=0.37-0.89) or ordinal (controls vs paucibacillary vs multibacillary, P=0.004) model. Whereas, IL-10 haplotype -3575T/-2849G/-2763C/-1082A/-819T/-592A was associated with the risk of development of severe form of leprosy (P=0.0002) in contrast to the minor risk haplotype -3575T/-2849A/-2763C in the Brazilian population. The role of IL-10 promoter SNPs in Brazilian and Indian population strongly suggests the involvement of IL-10 locus in the outcome of leprosy.