IL17A and IL17F Genetic Variations in Iranian Patients with Urothelial Bladder Cancer: A Case-Control Study

Background: Interleukin 17 (IL17) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine with pivotal modulatory effects on antitumor immune responses and has been reported to play a particularly important role in the occurrence and development of bladder cancer. We aimed to investigate the possible influence of IL17 genetic variations on loci rs22775913 and rs763780 with genetic susceptibility to bladder cancer in southern Iran. Method: In this case-control study, we enrolled 180 patients with urothelial bladder cancer (mean age 64 years) and 180 age/gender matched healthy controls without any family history of cancer and autoimmune disorders. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral whole blood and genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP method. Results: Genotype distributions in both the patients and controls were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of GG, GA, and AA genotypes for IL17A were 87 (48.3%), 72 (40%), and 21 (11.7%) among patients; and 92 (51.1%), 75 (41.6%), and 13 (7.3%) in the controls. The frequency of AA, AG, and GG genotypes for IL17F in both the patients/controls were 160 (88.9%)/ 158 (87.8%), 16 (8.9%)/ 21 (11.7%), and 4 (2.2%)/ 1 (0.5%), respectively. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between the two groups regarding the frequency of genotypes and alleles (P>0.05). Conclusion: Our data collectively suggested that genetic variations on loci rs22775913 and rs763780 of IL17 genes were not associated with bladder cancer susceptibility in the Iranian population. Our finding has to be confirmed in different ethnic groups.