Relationship between γ‐interferon gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to brucellosis infection

Abstract

Interferon-gamma (IFN-g) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in the defense mechanism against Brucella infection. It was hypothesized that the IFN-g in (þ874 A/T in intron 1) TT and þ5644 T/A, TT genotypes, which are reportedly associated with high IFN production, are associated with susceptibility to brucellosis in Iranian subjects. Genotyping of these IFN-g variants by an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction method was performed in 281 subjects, comprising 153 patients with active brucellosis and 128 healthy controls. It was found that the þ874 minor allele (A) and homozygote genotype (AA) were significantly more frequently present in brucellosis patients than in controls (OR ¼ 2.588; 95% CI, 1.313-5.104; P ¼ 0.006 for the AA genotype; OR ¼ 1.575; 95% CI, 1.124-2.216; P ¼ 0.010 for the A allele). However, the allelic and genotypic distribution of the IFN-g polymorphism at position UTR5644 A>T did not differ significantly between patients and controls (P > 0.05). The distribution of haplotypes in this study suggests that the T/A haplotype (þ874/ UTR5644), which was present more frequently in controls than in patients, may protect subjects against Brucella infection. It is suggested that IFN-g þ874 AA genotype and A allele are risk factors for developing brucellosis infection in Iranian subjects.

IFN-γ-dependent nitric oxide suppresses Brucella-induced arthritis by inhibition of inflammasome activation

“…While humans produce IFN‐γ during Brucella infection, chronic human brucellosis patients display an impaired IFN‐γ response to Brucella relative to patients at the onset of disease . Human brucellosis patients are also more likely to have IFN‐γ gene polymorphisms associated with reduced IFN‐γ production . Thus, impaired IFN‐γ production in these patients could lead to inflammasome‐dependent pathology.…”

Persister cells formation and expression of type II Toxin-Antitoxin system genes in Brucella melitensis (16M) and Brucella abortus (B19)

“…Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that causes abortion, genital infections and fetal death in animals. In humans, this highly diverse illness initially presents as fever, malaise, and myalgia and may later develop into a chronic illness affecting various organs and tissues such as the spleen, brain, joints, heart, liver and bone marrow (1)(2)(3) . Brucellosis is an endemic disease in the Middle East, the Mediterranean countries and East Asia and Latin America.…”

Interlukine-17 and TGF-β levels in patients with acute brucellosisbefore and after treatment

“…Despite control of this organism in many countries, it remains endemic in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, including Iran (2,6,7). The prevalence of brucellosis in Iran has been reported from 0.5% to 10.9% in different provinces.…”