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Association of interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha polymorphisms with susceptibility to vitiligo in Iranian patients

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Abstract

Vitiligo is a common skin disorder that is caused by selective destruction of melanocytes, resulting in disfiguring loss of pigment. There are convincing evidences that cytokines and T cell mediated immunity may have a role in its pathogenesis. Given the fact that cytokine production is under genetic control, in this study, we have investigated IFN-γ +874 T/A and TNF-α −308 G/A gene polymorphisms in a total of 176 vitiligo patients and 545 controls. IFN-γ +874 T/A and TNF-α −308 G/A gene polymorphisms were genotyped via Allele Specific Oligonucleotide PCR (ASO-PCR) method. The results showed that the TNF-α −308 G/A polymorphism was more common in vitiligo patients than controls (P = 0.0004). This difference was only significant between female patients and controls (P < 0.0001), while there was no significant difference between male patients and male controls (P = 0.90). The distribution of IFN-γ genotypes in vitiligo patients did not differ significantly from that in control subjects (P = 0.56). Since the presence of A nucleotide at position −308 of TNF-α gene is associated with increased cytokine production, therefore, the higher frequency of TNF-α −308 A allele in vitiligo patients compared to controls may be considered as a genetic susceptibility factor towards the development of vitiligo.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Mr. Javad Khishdoost and Marjan Dehghan from Autoimmune Diseases Research Center for their technical assistance. This study was financially supported by a grant from the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Ali-Mohammad Namian, Shima Shahbaz, Rahmatolah Salmanpoor, Mohammad-Reza Namazi & Farideh Dehghani

  2. Department of Immunology, Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, PO BOX 71345-1798, Shiraz, Iran

    Eskandar Kamali-Sarvestani

  3. Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Eskandar Kamali-Sarvestani

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  1. Ali-Mohammad Namian
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  2. Shima Shahbaz
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  3. Rahmatolah Salmanpoor
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  4. Mohammad-Reza Namazi
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  5. Farideh Dehghani
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  6. Eskandar Kamali-Sarvestani
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Correspondence to Eskandar Kamali-Sarvestani.

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Namian, AM., Shahbaz, S., Salmanpoor, R. et al. Association of interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha polymorphisms with susceptibility to vitiligo in Iranian patients. Arch Dermatol Res 301, 21–25 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-008-0904-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-008-0904-8

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