Investigation of the role of IL17A gene variants in Chagas disease

Genes Immun. 2015 Dec;16(8):536-40. doi: 10.1038/gene.2015.42. Epub 2015 Oct 15.

Abstract

Human host genetic factors have been suggested to be determinants of the prevalence and clinical forms of Chagas disease. In this regard, IL-17A is believed to control parasitemia and protect against heart disease. In this work, we assessed whether IL17A gene polymorphisms are related to infection and/or development of the cardiac form of Chagas disease by genotyping for five IL17A SNPs (rs4711998, rs8193036, rs3819024, rs2275913 and rs7747909) in 1171 individuals from a Colombian region endemic for Chagas disease, classified as seronegative (n=595), seropositive asymptomatic (n=175) and chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (n=401). Our results showed that SNP rs8193036, which is located upstream of the coding region of the gene, was slightly associated with protection against T. cruzi infection (P=0.0170, P(FDR)=0.0851, odds ratio (OR)=0.80, confidence interval (CI)=0.66-0.96) and associated with protection against the development of cardiomyopathy (P=0.0065, P(FDR)=0.0324, OR=0.75, CI=0.60-0.92). This finding suggests that this IL17A polymorphism could be associated with Trypanosoma cruzi infection and the development of chronic cardiomyopathy due to differential expression of cytokine IL-17A.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / genetics*
  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / immunology*
  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / parasitology
  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / pathology
  • Colombia
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-17 / genetics*
  • Interleukin-17 / immunology*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*

Substances

  • IL17A protein, human
  • Interleukin-17