Association of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism and susceptibility to human brucellosis

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the polymorphism within the intron 2 of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene (IL-1Ra) on the susceptibility to or development of brucellosis. A total of 255 patients with brucellosis and 162 healthy volunteers were genotyped for polymorphisms in intron 2 of the IL-1Ra gene. The frequency of allele 2 of the IL-1Ra gene was significantly higher in patients with brucellosis compared with the controls (24.5% vs 18.5%, P = 0.03). Although the heterozygosity was more prevalent in patients than in control individuals, it did not have any statistical significance (P = 0.1). Alleles 3, 4, and 5 were absent in our study population. This work is the first that verifies a significant association between genetic polymorphism of IL-1Ra and susceptibility to brucellosis.