TLR2 and TLR4 gene polymorphisms in Turkish vitiligo patients

Background It has been shown that toll like receptors (TLR) may be involved in some inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis. Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentation disorder of unknown aetiology. A number of genes playing a role in inflammatory response may be associated with development of vitiligo. Objectives To investigate whether there is an association between TLR 2 and TLR4 gene polymorphisms in Turkish patients with vitiligo. Methods A total of 100 patients (59 women and 41 men) with vitiligo and 100 controls (58 women and 42 men) were included in the study. The TLR2 gene Arg753Gln and TLR4 gene Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile polymorphisms were genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The data were analysed by MannWhitney U-test, chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis. Results Significant difference was found in the distribution of TLR2 Arg753Gln genotype and in the allele frequencies TLR2 753Gln between vitiligo patients and healthy subjects (P < 0.05). The distribution of TLR4 Asp299Gly genotype was significantly higher in the patient group (10%) than in the control group (%2) (P < 0.05). The TLR4 Thr399Ile distribution did not show any difference in both vitiligo and healthy groups. Conclusions Our findings suggest that Toll-like receptor 2 gene Arg753Gln and Toll-like receptor 4 Asp299Gly gene polymorphisms are associated with vitiligo susceptibility in Turkish patients.