IL18 Polymorphism Is Associated with Behçet’s Disease But Not Lupus in Patients from Turkey

IL18 Polymorphism Is Associated with Behçet’s Disease But Not Lupus in Patients from Turkey

To the Editor:

Sánchez, et al have recently reported an association between a putative functional genetic variant in the promoter region of IL18 (rs360719) and systemic lupus erythematosus in Spanish patients ¹. They found an increase in the relative expression of IL18 mRNA in individuals with the rs360719 lupus-risk allele ¹. Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a pleiotropic cytokine that can induce Th1 and Th2 responses in the presence and absence, respectively, of IL-12 ². Studies have described overproduction of IL-18 in several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases including Behçet’s disease (BD) and lupus ^{3, 4}. Indeed, serum IL-18 levels in patients with lupus and BD correlate with disease activity ^{5, 6}.

We attempted to replicate the results of Sánchez, et al in a set of Turkish patients with lupus. We examined if the same putative functional IL18 polymorphism is associated with BD in …

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Address correspondence to Dr. A.H. Sawalha, 825 NE 13th Street, MS 24, Oklahoma City, OK 73104. E-mail: amr-sawalha@omrf.ouhsc.edu

via jrheum.org

LupusよりもBehcetでより自然免疫に近い側のサイトカインのPolymorphismが見つかるというのは自然な結果に思える…