Association of Interleukin-17F gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to severe enterovirus 71 infection in Chinese children

Abstract

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a single-strand RNA virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in infants and young children, leading to neurological complications with significant morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, the pathogenesis of EV71 infection is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the IL-17F rs1889570 and rs4715290 gene polymorphisms in a Chinese Han population. Severe cases and cases with EV71 encephalitis had a significantly higher frequency of the rs1889570 T/T genotype and T allele. The serum IL-17F levels in rs1889570 T/T and C/T genotypes were also significantly elevated when compared to C/C genotypes. However, there was no significant difference observed in rs4715290 genotype distribution and allele frequency. These findings suggest that IL-17F rs1889570 gene polymorphisms are significantly associated with the susceptibility to severe EV71 infection in Chinese Han children.

Fig. 1

Serum levels of IL-17F were measured in 42 EV71-infected cases (21 mild cases and 21 severe cases, C/C = 12, C/T = 16, T/T = 14), and 23 controls (C/C = 7, C/T = 8, T/T = 8). Values were expressed as mean±SD. (A) IL-17F levels were significantly different in severe cases, mild cases and controls (***p < 0.001, severe cases vs. controls, mild cases vs. controls, severe case vs. mild cases). (B) IL-17F levels in T/T and C/T genotypes were significantly higher than with C/C genotypes in severe cases (***p < 0.001, *p < 0.05), but there were no differences between different genotypes in mild cases