Abstract

SANCHEZ, Dulfary; LEFEBVRE, Céline; GARCIA, Luis F  and  BARRERA, Luis F. Variants in the IFN ? transcription factor genes TBET, STAT1, STAT4, and HLX and the risk of pulmonary tuberculosis in a Colombian population: a case-control study. Biomédica [online]. 2013, vol.33, n.2, pp.259-267. ISSN 0120-4157.  https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.v33i2.790.

Introduction: Interferon gamma (IFN ? ) is the most potent cytokine involved in the control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ), the etiological agent of human tuberculosis (TB). Patients with active TB present reduced levels of IFN ? , which may explain the lack of effective immunity against Mtb in these patients. The diminished expression of or functional alterations in trans-acting factors that regulate IFN ? gene expression may explain the reduced levels of IFN ? in TB patients. Objective: To investigate the relationships of genetic variants in the transcription factors TBET, STAT1, STAT4, and HLX to susceptibility/resistance to pulmonary TB. Materials and methods: Eight candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected, and genotyped in 466 unrelated pulmonary TB patients and 300 healthy controls from Colombia, and the allelic and genetic associations with TB were analyzed. Results: The results indicate that no SNP in the transcription factors studied is associated with TB. However, polymorphism rs11650354 in the TBET gene may be associated with a decreased risk of TB; the TT genotype was significantly associated with TB protection in a recessive genetic model (OR=0.089, 95% CI: 0.01-0.73, p=0.0069), although this association was not maintained after multiple test correction (EMP2= 0.61). Conclusion: In this study, the rs11650354 variant of TBET was suggested to promote resistance to TB in a Colombian population. A future replication case-control study using additional samples will be necessary to confirm this suggestive association.

Keywords : >Mycobacterium tuberculosis; interferon gamma; transcription factor; STAT1; STAT4; casecontrol studies.

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