Role of IL-6 and IL-8 polymorphisms in Type I Diabetes mellitus

Background: Type I Diabetes mellitus (DM type-I) is the second most frequent
chronic disease. Inflammation has a critical role in DM and its complications.
Genetic discrepancies of pro-inflammatory cytokines (as IL-6, IL-8) might
converse susceptibility to DM and/or its complications by altering the
function and/or expression of these cytokines. The current study aimed to
evaluate the role of IL-6 rs0795(C/G) SNP and IL-8 rs7306 (C/T) SNP in T1DM
among Egyptian patients. Subjects & Methods: The current study enrolled 100
persons; 50 DM-type1 patients and 50 age and gender matched healthy
persons as a control group. Fasting blood sugar (FBS), postprandial blood
glucose (PPBG), random blood sugar (RBS) and Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C)
were measured for all participants. Genotyping of IL-6rs1800795 and IL8rs2227306 SNPs was done using real-time PCR. Results: IL-8rs2227306 T and
IL-6rs1800795 G alleles showed higher frequency in DM-1 patients than
controls (38% vs. 7%; OR = 8.25; 95% CI = 3.45-19.73; p <0.001* and 32% vs.
10%; OR = 4.18; 95% CI = 1.92-9.10; p <0.001*, respectively). Evaluation of the
haplotype frequency of IL-6 and IL-8 SNPs declared that the risk of
developing DM-1 increases 28 times if both alleles are present together in the
same patient (P<0.001*). Correlation analysis did not show any significant
relation between these SNP and sugar pictures among diabetic patients.
Conclusion: IL-8rs2227306 T and IL-6 rs0795 G alleles frequency is very high
among T1DM patients. They could be risk factors for DM-1, particularly if
presented together but did not have any effect on the severity of DM.