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Interleukin 18 promoter polymorphisms are not strongly associated with type I diabetes in a UK population

Genes & Immunity volume 6, pages 171–174 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Interleukin 18 (IL18) is a proinflammatory cytokine whose levels are increased in the subclinical stage of insulin-dependent (type I) diabetes mellitus. Previous case–control studies have reported associations between IL18 −607C>A and −137G>C promoter polymorphisms and type I diabetes. We performed case–control and family-based association studies employing Pyrosequencing to assess if these IL18 polymorphisms are also associated with the development of type I diabetes in the Northern Ireland population. The χ2 analysis of genotype and allele frequencies for the IL18 polymorphisms in cases (n=433) vs controls (n=426) revealed no significant differences (P>0.05). Assessment of allele transmission distortion from informative parents to affected offspring also failed to confirm previously reported associations. Stratification of these analyses for age-at-onset and HLA-DR type did not reveal any significance associations. In conclusion, our data do not support the strong positive associations of IL18 promoter polymorphisms with type I diabetes reported in previous smaller studies.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from the Research and Development Office, Northern Ireland, The Dinah Kohner Fund, the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund and the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. We thank nurse Oonagh McGlone for recruiting and sampling patients and their families and Anne Bingham for technical support. We are also extremely grateful to those clinicians who assisted us in the recruitment of subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    R J L Martin & D A Savage

  2. Department of Child Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    D J Carson

  3. Regional Nephrology Unit, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    A P Maxwell

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    C C Patterson

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  1. R J L Martin
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  2. D A Savage
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Correspondence to R J L Martin.

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Martin, R., Savage, D., Carson, D. et al. Interleukin 18 promoter polymorphisms are not strongly associated with type I diabetes in a UK population. Genes Immun 6, 171–174 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6364161

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