Interleukin-1beta exon 5 and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in children with immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Abstract

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is associated with cytokine response and dysregulation of the cytokine network. We investigated the polymorphisms of interleukin (IL)-1beta exon 5 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 Ra) in 50 children with acute ITP, in 30 children with chronic ITP, and in 100 healthy children by polymerase chain reaction-based restriction analysis. No significant differences in either genotype distribution (P=0.52) or allelic frequencies (P=0.70) were found among children with acute ITP, chronic ITP, or controls for IL-1beta exon 5. However, significant differences in genotype distribution (P=0.02) and the allelic frequencies (P=0.007) were found among children with acute ITP, chronic ITP, and controls for IL-1 Ra. We found that the IL-1 Ra but not IL-1beta gene polymorphism was associated with childhood ITP. This finding suggests that the IL-1 Ra gene polymorphism is implicated in the pathophysiology of childhood ITP.