Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor –173GC Variant Might Increase the Risk of Behçet’s Disease

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate any possible association between the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) –173GC variant and Behçet’s disease (BD) in a group of Turkish patients. Subjects and Methods: A total of 111 patients with BD and 100 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral lymphocytes. The MIF –173GC variant was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism. The allele and genotype frequencies of patients and controls were compared using the χ² test. Results: A statistically significant difference in the distribution of the genotype was observed between BD patients and healthy controls. The homo-genotype CC was more prevalent in the patient group compared to the control group (p = 0.008, OR: 0.24, 95% Cl: 0.05–0.78). A significant association was observed when the patients were compared with the controls according to GG + GC versus CC ge­notypes (p = 0.003, OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.06–0.063). Allele frequencies of the MIF −173GC variant did not show any statistically significant difference between patients and controls. Conclusion: In this study, we conclude that the CC ge­notype of the MIF –173GC variant may be a risk factor in the pathogenesis of BD in the Turkish population. However, further studies with larger samples are needed to address the exact role of this variant in BD.