Toll-like receptor 8 and 9 polymorphisms in Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever The clinical course and outcome of the CCHF infection are different in humans Toll like receptors (TLRs) are a family of pathogen recognition receptors TLR8 and TLR9 contribute to the recognition of viruses We investigated frequency of TLR8 Met1 Val TLR8 -129C/G TLR9 -1486T/C and TLR9 2458G/A polymorphisms in CCHF patients and healthy controls Our study was conducted between June 1 and August 31 2007 in Cumhuriyet University Hospital, Turkey TLR genotypes were detected using the PCR-RFLP assay in 85 CCHF patients and 171 healthy controls We found that heterozygous plus homozygous mutant genotypes frequency for TLR8 Met1 Val and for TLR9 -1486T/C were significantly higher in CCHF patients than controls (p = 0 038 and p = 0 009, respectively) The frequency of TLR8 -129G/G genotype in the fatal CCHF patients was significantly higher than that of the non-fatal patients (p = 0 026) The frequency of TLR9 -1486C/C genotype was significantly higher in fatal CCHF patients than in healthy controls (p = 0 009) and in patients with severe disease compared to non severe disease (p = 0 044) Our findings suggest that TLR8 Met1 Val TLR8 -129C/G and TLR9 -1486T/C polymorphisms are important on clinical course of CCHF disease (C) 2010 Institut Pasteur Published by Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved