Interleukin-10-1082 gene polymorphism is associated with papillary thyroid cancer

Abstract

The etiopathogenesis of thyroid cancer has not been clearly elucidated although the role of chronical inflammation and the imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines may play a role in the etiology. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether cytokine gene polymorphisms are associated with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and to evaluate the relationship between genotypes and clinical/laboratory manifestation of PTC. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) G-308A (rs 1800629), interleukin-6 (IL-6) G-174C (rs 1800795) and IL-10 A-1082G (rs 1800896) single nucleotide polymorphisms in DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes of 190 patients with thyroid cancer and 216 healthy controls were investigated by real-time PCR combined with melting curve analysis. There was no notable risk for PTC afflicted by TNF alpha-308 and IL-6-174 alone. However, IL-10-1082 G allele frequency were higher among PTC patients than healthy controls (p = 0.009). The patients with IL-10-1082 GG geotype have twofold increased risk of developing thyroid cancer according to AA genotype (OR 2.07, 95 % CI 1.21-3.55). In addition, the concomitant presence of IL-10-1082 G allele (GG + AG genotypes) together with IL-6 -174 GG genotype has a nearly twofold increased risk for thyroid cancer (OR 1.75 with 95 % CI 1.00-3.05, p = 0.049). We suggest that IL-10-1082 G allele is associated with an increased risk of PTC. The polymorphism of IL-10 gene can improve our knowledge about the pathogenesis of PTC, and could provide to estimate people at the increased risk for PTC.