Objective: To investigate the influence of cytokine gene polymorphism on renal transplantation.
Methods: The cytokine genotypes of cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-10, TGF-beta(1), and L-6 among 91 consecutive kidney recipients were detected by PCR-SSP. The distribution frequencies of different cytokine genotypes and the influence of cytokine gene polymorphism on renal transplantation were analyzed.
Results: Among the 91 renal recipients, the dominant genotypes of IL-10 and TNF-alpha were low producer genotype with the frequencies of 90.1% and 79.1% respectively; and the dominant genotypes of TGF-beta(1) and IL-6 were high producer genotypes (79.1% and 100% respectively). The kidney recipients with TNF-alpha high producer genotype and IL-10 high or intermediate producer genotype were associated with more acute rejection episodes than those with low producer genotypes. The acute rejection episodes in the kidney recipients with IL-10 high or intermediate producer genotype were mainly vascular acute rejection.
Conclusion: The cytokine gene polymorphism has significant influence on incidence and severity of acute rejection after renal transplantation. Detecting the cytokine genotype before renal transplantation is beneficial to predict the outcome of transplantation accurately.