Polymorphisms of interleukin-10 genes on the risk of ischemic stroke in a meta-analysis

Background: Previous studies have investigated the associations between polymorphisms of interleukin- 10 (IL-10) gene and risk of ischemic stroke (IS). However, the results were inconsistent. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between IL-10 polymorphisms and IS risk by a meta-analysis approach. Methods: The meta-analysis was performed by searching PubMed and Wanfang databases. Odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as well as effect size were calculated by a fixed or random-effect model according to the I-2 value. In total, five case-control studies for IL10-1082G/A and four studies for IL10-819C/T were included in this meta-analysis. Results: Combined analysis indicated that IL10-1082G/A polymorphism was associated with risk of IS (A/A vs. G/G+G/A: OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.21-2.74, P = 0.004; for A allele vs. G allele: OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.14-2.10, P = 0.006). However, there was no significant association between IL10-819C/T polymorphism and IS in any comparison model (C/C vs. T/C+T/T: OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.69-1.36, P = 0.84; C allele vs. T allele: OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.83-1.21, P = 0.97). Conclusions: Our results indicated that IL-10-1082G/A polymorphism, but not IL10-819C/T polymorphism was associated with the risk of IS.