Genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis includes several unknown yet different loci each contributing to a small extent. Intronic polymorphisms within the interferon-g (IFN-g) gene IFNG Tþ874A and IFNG Gþ2109A correlate with the IFN-g production in vitro, and the frequency of potential high IFN-g producers was previously reported by others to be lower in patients than in controls from Sicily. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between polymorphisms in the IFN-g gene and predisposition to tuberculosis. We analysed two IFNG SNPs (Tþ874A and Gþ2109A) in patients (n ¼ 253) hospitalized in Rijeka (Croatia) and controls (n ¼ 519) from the same area. Onefifth of the controls were healthy contacts of the diseased, and the rest were blood donors. IFNG alleles, their predicted haplotypes or genotypes were not associated with disease susceptibility. Thus, we could not reproduce results from Sicilian case-control study. However, T/Tþ874 (possible high IFN-g producer) and þ874A/A (putative low producer) genotypes were associated with microscopically positive-negative forms of disease. Haplotypes (Tþ874A and Gþ2109A) based on a prediction by software PHASE and subsequent genotype analysis corroborated these findings. Patients had significantly higher frequency of genotypes without T at þ874 (AA/AA; AA/AG and AG/AG) in microscopyor bacterial culture-positive groups compared with their negative counterparts. These data suggest an association with disease severity rather than susceptibility to tuberculosis in Croatian Caucasian population.

These results suggest that polymorphisms in tested TLR genes are not likely to be associated with increased risk for developing breast cancer.

We analysed frequencies of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the interferon-g (IFN-g) receptor-1 (IFNGR1) gene promoter (G-611A, T-56C) in tuberculosis patients (n ¼ 244) and compared them with controls (n ¼ 521). These frequencies were not significantly different, whether analysed independently or as haplotypes. Because these SNP affect transcription, the results suggest that the expression of the IFNGR1 gene does not confer susceptibility to disease in patients from Croatia. Further analysis revealed a significant association between the protective (CA) n polymorphism (22 repeats, 192 FA 1 ), located in the fifth intron of the IFNGR1 gene (þ16682), and GT promoter haplotype (À611; À56) that showed the strongest expression capacity. In addition to this cis relationship, the (CA) 22 allele was correlated in trans with an IFN-g SNP (IFNG G þ 2109A), which might affect the transcription of the IFNG gene. These results suggest that a particular combination of IFNG and IFNGR1 SNP might offer a better protection against tuberculosis in this population.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a frequent, destructive joint disease, with debilitating impact on a society regarding medical, social, and economic issues. Although causes of primary OA were still not fully elucidated, evidence points to complex genetic risk that varies among different population groups, including the interleukin-1 (IL-1) gene cluster. Here, we sought to determine allelic and genotypic frequencies of the IL-1β (IL1B) and the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN) genes using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at -511(G>A; rs16944) and the variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) in a case-control study with 238 patients that have undergone total or partial knee replacement and 495 healthy blood donors as controls in Croatia. The alleles of the IL1B gene at -511G>A were detected by Taqman real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and IL1RN VNTR by amplifying its DNA by PCR. The genotypes 1-2/1-2 and 2-1/2-2 at IL1B G -511A-IL1RN (VNTR) showed trends for association with the occurrence of the knee OA in this population (P = 0.09; P = 0.07, respectively). Furthermore, neither the alleles nor the haplotypes were found associated with the predisposition to knee OA. Our findings suggest that knee OA might have a different genetic risk in this Caucasian population. We did not found significant association of the IL1 gene cluster (IL1B-IL1RN) with severe knee OA. However, we found that two genotypes (1-2/1-2 and 2-1/2-2) show a trend toward association with susceptibility to disease.