Published ahead of print on January 16, 2003, doi:10.1164/rccm.200205-438BC
© 2003 American Thoracic Society
Interferon-
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| ABSTRACT |
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(+874 T/A) and in the promoter region of interleukin-10 gene (-1,082 G/A), with cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tuberculosis susceptibility. We studied a Spanish population of 113 patients with culture-proven pulmonary tuberculosis, 207 healthy close contacts (125 tuberculin reactive and 82 tuberculin negative), and 100 healthy tuberculin-negative control subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that individuals homozygous for the interferon-
(+874) A allele had a 3.75-fold increased risk of developing tuberculosis (95% confidence interval, 2.266.23, p = 0.0017). Stimulated production of interferon-
by peripheral mononuclear cells from patients with genotype AA was depressed compared with that of non-AA homozygotes at the time of diagnosis and after completion of therapy. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of an AA genotype and the absolute number of lymphocytes were the only independent predictors of interferon-
production. In contrast, the different rates of interleukin-10 production associated with the interleukin-10 polymorphism did not affect susceptibility to tuberculosis. Thus, a genetic defect in the production of interferon-
in individuals homozygous for the (+874) A allele could contribute to their increased risk of developing tuberculosis.
Key Words: gene polymorphisms tuberculosis susceptibility cytokine production interferon-
interleukin-10
Family-based genetic linkage studies (1) and population-based case-control analyses (24) have been used to identify candidate genes for susceptibility to tuberculosis in West Africans, but there is no study in a European white population. Polymorphisms in the interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-1 receptor antagonist genes influenced cytokine response by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in a case-control study of Gujarati Asians in west London, but these polymorphisms had little effect on tuberculosis susceptibility (5). However, other cytokine polymorphisms could be of interest, as their gene products are known to be directly involved in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis (6). Macrophage activation by IFN-
is essential for protective immunity, as mice (7) or humans (8, 9) that lack components of the IFN-
signaling pathway are highly susceptible to tuberculosis. It has also been shown that IL-10 converts human dendritic cells into macrophage-like cells with increased antimycobacterial activity (10).
There are two well-known single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the IFN-
gene. A CA repeat microsatellite sequence in the noncoding region of the first intron is polymorphic; it has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility and severity in Canadians (11). In healthy British white individuals (12), allele 2 is associated with production of higher concentrations of IFN-
in vitro. In addition, a single nucleotide T/A polymorphism at the 5' end of the CA repeat region in the first intron of the IFN-
gene (+874 A/T polymorphism) has been correlated with the presence or absence of the microsatellite allele 2 (13). The IL-10 gene may also be implicated in genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis. There are three biallelic polymorphisms in the IL-10 gene promoter. At position -1,082 bp from the transcriptional start site, the presence of G is associated with higher and A with lower production of IL-10 by PBMC cultures (14).
The aim of this work was to test the hypothesis that a genetically determined lower production of either IFN-
, IL-10, or both might influence susceptibility or severity in pulmonary tuberculosis. We performed a study in white patients with active disease, tuberculin-reactive and tuberculin-negative healthy contacts, and nonexposed control subjects to determine the influence of these polymorphisms on susceptibility and disease expression and to assess any functional significance by correlating ex vivo IFN-
and IL-10 production with IFN-
and IL-10 genotypes.
| METHODS |
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Genotyping of Subjects
Genomic DNA was extracted as previously described (16). The polymorphisms in IFN-
(+874*T/A) and IL-10 (-1,082*G/A) genes were typed using amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods (17). Briefly, genomic DNA was amplified with the use of Taq Gold DNA polymerase (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) in two different PCRs for each polymorphism; each reaction employed a generic antisense primer and one of the two allele-specific sense primers. To assess the success of PCR amplification in both reactions, one internal control of 426 bp was amplified using a pair of primers designed from the nucleotide sequence of the human growth hormone (accession number M13438). The amplified products were separated by electrophoresis on a 2% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide (Figure 1)
. The PCR reaction was performed using 10 cycles (95°C for 1 minute, 95°C for 15 seconds, 62°C for 50 seconds, and 72°C for 40 seconds), followed by 20 cycles (95°C for 20 seconds, 56°C for 50 seconds, and 72°C for 50 seconds). The characteristics of the primer sequences are shown in Table 1
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and IL-10 (Biosource International, Camarillo, CA). Both assays presented a detection limit of 4 pg/ml, and their interassay and intra-assay coefficients of variation were less than 10% and less than 6%, respectively. The data are presented as the concentration in supernatants of PPD-stimulated cells minus the concentration in supernatants of cells cultured in media alone.
Statistical Analysis
All calculations were done using the SPSS program (version 9.0 for Windows 98; SPSS, Chicago, IL). Genotype frequencies were compared by the chi-squared test, and the relative risk (odds ratio) for disease susceptibility or clinical course was calculated. Genotype frequencies in patients and control subjects were not significantly different from those predicted under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (Linkage Utility Programs, by Dr. Jurg Ott, Rockefeller University, NY). Results were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney rank-sum test, Fisher's exact test, and two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures (where indicated) (20). A multiple logistic regression model employing the likelihood ratio was used to examine the influence of different genotypes and ex vivo IFN-
production on susceptibility to tuberculosis. A p of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
| RESULTS |
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+874 A allele was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis. Individuals with two A alleles were markedly overrepresented among the patients with tuberculosis as compared with healthy control subjects (odds ratio, 2.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.544.75), as well as to the tuberculin-positive and -negative contacts. We found that carriage of an AA genotype was significantly associated with radiologically far advanced disease at diagnosis (Table 3) . To determine whether carriage of an AA genotype at the IFN-
+874 locus might be independently associated with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis, a multiple logistic regression analysis was done. After adjusting for age and sex, AA homozygous subjects had a 3.75-fold increased risk of developing tuberculosis (odds ratio 3.75, 95% confidence interval, 2.266.23, p = 0.0017).
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production (877 ± 279 pg/ml) than their tuberculin-positive (1,489 ± 401 pg/ml, p < 0.001) or tuberculin-negative contacts (1,091 ± 254 pg/ml, p < 0.01). The mean absolute number of lymphocytes in patients was similar to that in tuberculin-reactive and -nonreactive contacts (2,847 ± 484 versus 2,868 ± 592 and 2,770 ± 462 cells/mm3, respectively, p = NS). IFN-
production was correlated with the absolute number of lymphocytes (r = 0.390, p < 0.01) but not with the radiographic extent of disease at diagnosis (r = 0.162, p = 0.29) nor with age or sex. In addition, we noted that IFN-
production was closely linked to the +874 T/A alleles. Thus, allele A homozygous patients with tuberculosis and contact cases produced significantly lower levels of IFN-
compared with individuals carrying one or two copies of allele T (p < 0.01 for all comparisons) (Figure 2A) . To determine whether the depressed IFN-
production in the patients homozygous for allele A was permanent or transitory, we retested all patients 6 months later after completing treatment. Mean IFN-
concentrations had increased by 21% after therapy (p = NS; Figure 2B) but remained significantly lower in the AA homozygotes than in patients carrying at least one T allele. Multivariate stepwise linear regression, performed taking into account the radiographic extent of disease, age, and sex, absolute number of lymphocytes, and IFN genotypes, showed that the only independent predictors of IFN-
production were the presence of an AA genotype (r2 = 0.657, p < 0.001) and the absolute number of lymphocytes (r2 = 0.668, p < 0.05).
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| DISCUSSION |
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and IL-10 genes and susceptibility to tuberculosis. In addition, we have been very careful to exclude the possibility of ethnic mismatching or the effects of confounders such as the concomitant presence of other diseases. Our control group has a genotype distribution that is similar to the one reported in healthy British individuals (12, 14).
This study reports three novel major findings. First, it reveals that the IFN-
(+874 A/T) polymorphism is significantly associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that individuals who were homozygous for the +874 A allele had a 3.75-fold increased risk of developing tuberculosis. Second, the study provides evidence that this polymorphism influences PPD-induced IFN-
production in patients, healthy contacts, and nonexposed normal subjects. The lowest IFN-
production was measured in homozygous patients with genotype AA both at the time of diagnosis and after completion of therapy. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of an AA genotype and the lymphocyte number were the only independent predictors of IFN-
production. The third noteworthy observation of this study is negative: the different rates of IL-10 production related with a polymorphism at position -1,082 in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene were not associated with tuberculosis susceptibility.
An association between the IFN-
(+874) T/A polymorphism and tuberculosis has been recently reported in a sample of 45 Sicilian patients affected by tuberculosis (21), although the functional significance of the association was not explored. Our study evaluated the relationship between IFN-
production and IFN-
(+874) T/A alleles in healthy control subjects and in three groups of individuals exposed to tuberculosis who developed different immune responses: noninfected contacts, tuberculin-sensitized contacts, and patients with active tuberculosis. Tuberculin-positive and -negative contacts that were homozygous for allele A produced significantly lower levels of IFN-
than those carrying one or two copies of allele T. Similarly, stimulated production of IFN-
from tuberculosis patients with the AA genotype was about two-thirds lower than in patients with other genotypes (AT and TT) and remained depressed 6 months later when compared with control values. The persistence of low IFN-
production by PBMCs for more than 6 months suggests the presence of a genetic defect in IFN-
production in patients with allele A homozygosity that may also underlie their increased risk for reactivation of a latent pulmonary tuberculosis focus.
Several studies have reported that the clinical manifestations of patients with tuberculosis correlate with Mycobacterium tuberculosisstimulated IFN-
production by PBMCs, which was lower in patients with tuberculosis than in healthy tuberculin reactors (22, 23) and even lower in patients with extensive disease (24). Our findings confirm these results and indicate that differences in the distribution of the IFN-
genotype could explain the lower production of this cytokine in tuberculosis patients; they have a higher frequency of the homozygous A genotype that was associated with lower PPD-stimulated IFN-
production. As expected, there were no significant differences in the levels of IFN-
in supernatants of PBMC cultures from tuberculin-negative healthy contacts or the control subjects. It is surprising that despite frequent contact with infectious tuberculosis patients, just a small subgroup (6 out of 82, 7.3%) of the nonsensitized healthy contacts showed PPD skin conversion, indicating that the rest of the exposed contacts were probably resistant to infection, at least during the time of the study, and that they may possess innate mechanisms of resistance that do not involve the secretion of IFN-
.
The mechanisms of altered gene expression associated with polymorphisms are still poorly understood. There is evidence that sequence changes in the noncoding regions of cytokine genes may influence production of the corresponding peptide due to linkage with another marker directly affecting gene expression. We have recently described an association between ex vivo production of IL-1 receptor antagonist by peripheral blood cells and the presence of IL-1 receptor antagonist gene allele 2, which lies in the noncoding nucleotide sequence of the gene, in a group of 78 patients with severe sepsis and a group of 30 blood donors (19). The association between IFN-
(+874 T/A) polymorphism and ex vivo production of IFN-
by PBMCs observed in this study may indicate some linkage with functional variants in other loci in the regulatory region of the gene. Specific binding of the nuclear transcription factor-
B to the DNA sequence containing the +874 T allele has been reported (25); it could have functional consequences for the transcription of the IFN-
gene and could then influence the rate of IFN-
production (12, 25). Because the influence of gene polymorphisms on protein production may differ with tissue and cell type (2628), further studies are needed to assess the relative influence of the IFN-
+874 T/A alleles in the local production of IFN-
in the lung.
Published data suggest that IL-10 inhibits synthesis of IFN-
by T cells (22) and that production of IL-10 has been associated with anergy in tuberculosis (29). In view of the important role played by IL-10 in the modulation of proinflammatory CD4+ T-helper cell responses, particularly IFN-
secretion (10), we were attracted by the proposal that differences in IL-10 production could influence either disease susceptibility or disease progression or both. Heterozygosity for the -1,082 polymorphism of the IL-10 promoter was associated with tuberculosis susceptibility in the Cambodian population (30) but not in patients from the Gambia (2). In contrast to the findings in Cambodia, we observed no differences in IL-10 genotype frequencies among patients, tuberculin-reactive and tuberculin-negative contacts, and normal subjects. Interestingly, the distribution of tuberculosis cases among the different genotypes is similar irrespective of their level of IL-10 production by PBMCs. Our data suggest that genetically determined high or low IL-10 production by PBMCs is unlikely to predispose white individuals to tuberculosis or to protect them from it. An explanation for the apparent inconsistency between these studies is that ethnic-specific genetic variations could greatly influence host immunity to tuberculosis, causing different tuberculosis susceptibility on the ethnic populations studied.
In summary, we have observed a significant association between the IFN-
(+874 A/T) polymorphism and the development of pulmonary tuberculosis and found that this association is functional. Patients with tuberculosis- and tuberculin-reactive contacts that were homozygous for the IFN-
+874 A allele were shown to produce significantly less IFN-
than those with other allele combinations. In contrast, a polymorphism at position -1,082 in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene was not associated with disease susceptibility. We believe there are many more potentially influential and polymorphic immunoregulatory genes still to be investigated in patients with tuberculosis, and further studies are warranted.
| FOOTNOTES |
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Received in original form May 16, 2002; accepted in final form January 8, 2003
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