Association of IL-12, IL-13 and TNF-α gene polymorphisms and their serum Levels with Brucellosis

Background and Objectives: The cytokine gene polymorphism is important for the genetic predisposition of infectious diseases. The present study aimed at identification of the associations between the serum levels of IL-12, IL-13 and TNF-α in Brucellosis patients. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 107 Brucellosis patients and 107 healthy controls. The SNPs of TNF-α )-238 G/A) and IL-12 (+1188 A/C) were done by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and IL-13 genotyping at positions -1512 (A/C) and -1112 (C/T) were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) methods. IL-12, IL-13 and TNF-α serum levels were measured by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: IL-13 (-1512A/C) was found to be associated with Brucellosis risk in dominant model (OR (95% CI)=2.17 (1.02–4.62)), P-value=0.041. However, there was no difference in allele and genotype frequencies of TNF-α )-238 G/A), IL-12 (+1188 A/C) and IL-13 (-1112 C/T) between patients and controls. Serum levels of IL-12 and TNF-α were significantly more frequent in the patients than in the control groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, the gene variation may be useful for the identification of genotype as biomarkers for identification of people at high risk.