Author/Authors :
Izad, Maryam Department of Immunology - Faculty of Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Vodjgani, Mohammad Department of Immunology - Faculty of Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Nicknam, Mohammad Hossein Department of Immunology - Faculty of Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Lotfi, Jamshid Department of Neurology - Shariati Hospital - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Fathi, Davood Department of Neurology - Shariati Hospital - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Amirzargar, Ali Akbar Department of Immunology - Faculty of Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Abstract :
Interferon- gamma (IFN- γ) is an important immune regulator and inflammatory
cytokine which is implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). A single
nucleotide polymorphism, T to A, at position +874 in the first intron has previously been
shown. This polymorphism is associated with IFN- γ production level. To study the effect
of this polymorphism on susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, we screened genomic DNA
samples from clinically definite MS patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives as
controls, using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). The results indicated that MS
patients showed a lower TT (21.2% vs. 30.3%) and higher AA (21.2% vs. 12.1%)
genotypes compared to controls, although there were statistically no differences in the
IFN- γ genotype distribution between these two groups. Thus, our data indicate that there
is no association between IFN- γ +874 polymorphism and MS susceptibility or severity of
the disease.
