IL-17 Gene Polymorphism Is Associated with Chronic Periodontitis and Peri-implantitis in Iranian Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Periodontal disease (PD) and peri-implantitis (PI) are characterized by an immune response leading to destructive inflammation. The prominent impact of genetic factors on periodontitis has been previously evaluated and IL-17 has found to play a critical role in this process. This cytokine has a controversial behavior. This study aimed at finding out whether the polymorphism of this cytokine plays a significant role in chronic periodontitis (CP) and PI or it is just a pro-inflammatory regulatory cytokine. Fresh human blood samples were obtained and three main genotypes were traced carefully. The samples were transferred into 96-well plates and sent to KBioscience Institute in the United Kingdom for genotyping the polymorphism using Competitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) technique. SPSS version19 software and chi-square and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for statistical differences considering p-value less than 0.05. A significant difference was detected between the three groups in terms of specific SNP studied in this experiment (P = 0.00). The CC genotype of IL17 polymorphism (rs10484879) may contribute to the pathogenesis of peri-implantitis and periodontitis. The association of IL-17 polymorphism with PI and CP is a promising finding that may help in future similar studies on other ethnicities and larger study populations.     

High Serum Level of Antithymocyte Globulin Immediately before Graft Infusion Is Associated with a Low Likelihood of Chronic,But Not Acute,Graft-versus-Host Disease

Rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG) is administered during transplant conditioning to decrease the risk of both acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Here we evaluated the relationship between the serum concentration of ATG (capable of binding to lymphocytes) immediately before graft infusion (day 0) or on day +7 or +28 post-transplantation and the development of aGVHD or cGVHD. We studied 180 patients whose conditioning included 4.5 mg/kg antithymocyte globulin (ATG; Thymoglobulin). For aGVHD, we found no association with ATG levels on day 0. Nevertheless, high day +7 and +28 ATG levels were associated with a low likelihood of aGVHD. For cGVHD, high ATG levels at all 3 time points (days 0, +7, and +28) were associated with a low likelihood of cGVHD. In conclusion, high-dose ATG administration at the time of graft infusion appears to inhibit the development of cGVHD, but not aGVHD; however, higher ATG levels on days +7 and +28 are associated with lower rates of both aGVHD and cGVHD.