Influence of interleukin gene polymorphisms on development of acute pancreatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Several epidemiological studies have assessed the associations of interleukin (IL) gene polymorphisms with acute pancreatitis (AP) in different populations. However, the results were inconclusive. Therefore, we performed the present study to comprehensively evaluate the associations of IL gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to AP. Systematic searches of the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, CBMdisc and Google Scholar until February 27, 2013, as well as hand searching of the references of identified articles were performed. Data were extracted using standardized forms and odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of associations. All statistical analyses were performed using Stata 11.0. Ten studies were included in our final combined analysis, covering a total of 1,220 AP cases and 1,351 controls. The results showed evidence for significant association between IL-8 −251 T/A (rs4073) polymorphism and AP risk, suggesting that IL-8 −251 A allele was associated with an increased risk of AP (for A allele vs. T allele: OR = 1.36, 95 % CI 1.05–1.76, p = 0.02; for A/A vs. T/T: OR = 2.28, 95 % CI 1.08–4.81, p = 0.03; for A/A+T/A vs. T/T: OR = 1.40, 95 % CI 1.11–1.77, p = 0.005). However, there were no significant associations between IL-1β (IL-1β +3954 C/T (rs1143634) and IL-1β −511 C/T (rs16944)), IL-6 (IL-6 −174 G/C (rs1800795) and IL-6 −634 C/G (rs1800796)) and IL-10 (IL-10 −1082 A/G (rs1800896), IL-10 −819 C/T (rs1800871) and IL-10 −592 C/A (rs1800872)) gene polymorphisms and AP risk. In summary, the current study suggests that the IL-8 −251 T/A polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of AP. In addition, there were no significant associations between IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 gene polymorphisms and AP risk.