Association of TLR2 and IL1B Genetic Variants with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Susceptibility in the Iraqi Population.

Abstract

Tuberculosis susceptibility results from the complex interaction of host immune responses and genetic factors. This study used a case-control design to assess immunologic biomarkers and polymorphisms in the TLR2 and IL1B genes among Iraqi patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. 50 patients with tuberculosis and 50 apparently healthy controls were recruited from specialised centres in Kerbala and Baghdad. Mean serum TLR2 concentration was higher in patients carrying TLR2 sequence variants than in non- carrier patients (15.71 vs. 12.28 ng/mL), although the difference was not statistically significant (p =0.158). However, Serum IL-1β concentration was lower in variant-carrier patients than in wild-type patients and controls, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.470). Genetic analysis of the studied genes showed that TLR2 rs5743708 was monomorphic G>G in all patients and the control; Meanwhile, many previously studied SNPs were identified in the target sequence. The IL-1B gene showed multiple variants at the target SNP rs1143627, Among TB patients, G>T-related variants were observed in 10 individuals and G>A-related variants in 5 individuals, compared with 4 G>T-related variants among controls; the odds ratio was 4.93, 95% CI: 1.55–15.69, p = 0.0095.