Polymorphic variants of the IL2RA gene and susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in the Polish population

Polymorphic variants of the IL2RA gene, which encodes high-affinity alpha subunit (CD25) of the interleukin-2 receptor, were recently found to affect the risk of several autoimmune disorders. This study was aimed to investigate the association of selected IL2RA polymorphisms (rs11594656, rs3118470, rs2104286 and rs7093069) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in a Polish cohort comprising 445 patients and 671 healthy control subjects. The minor A allele at rs11594656 was found significantly less frequently among T1D subjects, compared with the control group [P = 0.011; odds ratio (OR) = 0.77; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.629-0.942]. In contrast, the minor C allele at rs3118470 appeared to be significantly associated with the occurrence of T1D (P = 0.003; OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.094-1.550). Two other IL2RA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) did not show significant differences among investigated groups. In conclusion, the study confirms the association of the IL2RA locus with T1D in the Polish population.