Neither IL-1 β, IL-1 receptor antagonist, nor TNF- α polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to COPD

Abstract

The cytokines that contribute to airway inflammation, including interleukin-1 β (IL-1β )and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF α), might have key roles in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL—1RN), the physiological antagonist of IL-1 β, is also known to play a crucial role in several chronic inflammatory diseases. In this study, we investigated the association of the polymorphisms of IL-1 β, IL-1RN and TNF α with susceptibility to COPD.To elucidate the genotype of the IL-1 β polymorphisms at position −511 base and at the amino acid residue 105, the IL-1RN polymorphism in intron 2, and TNF α polymorphism at position −308, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were performed on blood samples from both patients with COPD (n=53) and control subjects (n=65).There were no differences on the allele and genotype frequency of IL-1 β, IL-1RN, and TNF α between the two groups.We could not find a significant link between the polymorphism of TNF α, which was previously reported to be associated with chronic bronchitis, and COPD. Furthermore, no association between genetic polymorphisms of IL1- β and IL-1RN and individual susceptibility to COPD was found.