Association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the IL27 gene with autoimmune thyroid diseases

Background: Accumulating data have shown that interleukin-27 (IL27) polymorphisms are linked to the susceptibility of some autoimmune diseases. We assessed whether there was an association between three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL27 gene and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). Methods: Three SNPs (rs153109, rs17855750 and rs181206) of IL27 gene were genotyped by Hi-SNP high-throughput geneotyping in 843 patients with AITDs (516 Graves' disease (GD) and 327 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT)) and 677 healthy controls in Chinese Han population. Results: Compared with controls, rs153109 displayed significant associations with GD in allele and genotype frequencies (P = 0.002 and P = 0.008, respectively) and rs17855750 displayed significant associations with HT in allele frequencies (P = 0.02), whereas no differences in genotype or allele frequencies were found between AITD patients and controls at rs181206. Conclusion: Our study, for the first time, showed the significant association of the IL27 gene SNPs with AITD.