Interleukin-17A Genetic Polymorphisms as a Prognostic Markers for Resistence to Visceral Leishamniasis in the Iranian Population

Background: Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) gene can be a potential candidate gene implicated in visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a disease caused by an infection with Leishmania parasite. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore whether there is an association between IL-17A polymorphisms and VL in the Iranian population. Methods: A total of 202 participants (55 VL patients and 125 healthy controls) were investigated in the present case-control study. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The frequencies of IL-17A rs3819024, rs3819025, and rs8193038 A alleles, and haplotype AGAG were significantly higher in the controls than patients (P = 0.0006, 0.017, 0.0003 and 0.001, respectively), while IL-17A rs3748067 A allele distribution was higher in patients than controls (P = 0.00004). Also, the frequencies of AA genotypes of rs3819024, rs3819025 and rs8193038 were higher in the controls (P = 0.0048, 0.014, and 0.018, respectively) while rs3748067 AA genotype was of greater distribution in the patients (P = 0.000048). Conclusions: The findings highlighted the role of IL-17A in the pathogenesis of the VL in humans.