Interleukin-2 and Interferon-Gamma Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Iranian Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Inflammatory cytokines have been known to be associated with Chronic Heart Failure (CHF). Given the importance of cytokines in the context of the failing heart, the prevalence of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) polymorphisms was studied in patients with CHF due to ischemic heart disease in a case-control study.
Fifty-six Iranian patients with CHF were enrolled in this study as the case group and compared with 139 healthy subjects, using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers method, so as to determine the frequency of alleles, genotypes and haplotypes of IFN-γ ( A/T) and IL-2 (-330 G/T, G/T) SNPs.
The GG genotype at IL-2 -330 in patients with CHF was significantly overrepresented in comparison with the control group (p=0.013). Such a positive genotypic association was also observed for IL-2 힮뽍 (p=0.022). Meanwhile, the GT genotype frequency at IL-2 -330/GT in the patient group was significantly lower than the one in healthy controls (p=0.049). No significant association was detected between the IFN-γ gene polymorphisms and individuals’ susceptibility to CHF.
Certain genotypes in IL-2 gene were overrepresented in patients with CHF, which could render individuals more vulnerable to this disease.