Abstract
Objective
To investigate the association of Graves’ disease and Graves’ ophthalmopathy with the C/T transition polymorphism at position −318 of promoter and the A/G transition polymorphism at position 49 of exon 1 within cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene.
Methods
Thirty-three patients with ophthalmopathy of Graves’ disease, fifty-six Graves’ patients without ophthalmopathy and sixty normal subjects as control were involved in the present case-control study. The polymorphisms were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Comparisons were made of gene frequencies and allele frequencies between the groups.
Results
The gene frequencies of CT and allele frequencies of T were much higher in Graves’ patients with ophthalmopathy than that in the group without ophthalmopathy (P=0.020, P=0.019). The gene frequencies of GG and allele frequencies of G in patients with Graves’ disease were significantly increased as compared with control group (P=0.008, P=0.007). The data suggest that smokers with Graves’ disease seemed to be more predisposed to ophthalmopathy than non-smokers (P=0.018).
Conclusion
Our results suggest that an allele of T at position −318 of promoter is associated with genetic susceptibility to Graves’ ophthalmopathy while an allele of G at position 49 of exon 1 is associated with genetic susceptibility to Graves’ disease instead. Smoking is believed to be a major risk factor for ophthalmopathy.
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Zhang, Q., Yang, Ym. & Lv, Xy. Association of Graves’ disease and Graves’ ophthalmopathy with the polymorphisms in promoter and exon 1 of cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 gene. J. Zhejiang Univ. - Sci. B 7, 887–891 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0887
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0887
Key words
- Graves’ ophthalmopathy
- Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene
- Gene frequency
- Susceptibility gene