부산대학교 도서관

BACKGROUND:: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a key negative regulator of T lymphocytes and has been shown to be associated with a number of autoimmune diseases. The present study was performed to assess the association between CTLA-4 polymorphisms and Behçet disease (BD) in Chinese patients. METHODS:: Two hundred and twenty-eight BD patients and 207 controls were analysed for four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (−1661A/G, −318C/T, +49G/A and CT60G/A) in the CTLA-4 gene by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. The association between SNP +49A/G and BD in Chinese population as well as other ethnic groups was analysed by meta-analysis. RESULTS:: No association could be detected between CTLA-4 SNPs or haplotypes and BD. Also, no association was observed between CTLA-4 polymorphisms and BD subgroups, stratified by clinical features. A meta-analysis showed that there was no heterogeneity between studies (p = 0.60, I = 0%) and that CTLA-4 SNP +49 was not associated with BD (overall effect: Z = 0.26, p = 0.79). CONCLUSION:: This study and a meta-analysis failed to demonstrate any association between the tested CTLA-4 polymorphisms and BD.