Association of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-10, IL-6, and IFN-γ gene polymorphism with acute rejection and infection in lung transplant recipients

Abstract

Infection and rejection are common complications faced by lung transplant recipients (LTRs) and have become major impediments to long-term survival. Cytokines may play an important role in the development of these complications. In this study, we explored the correlation between TNF-α (-308 A/G), TGF-β1 (+869 T/C, +915 G/C), IL-10 (-592 C/A, -819 T/C, -1082 G/A), IL-6 (-174 G/C), and IFN-γ (+874 T/A) gene polymorphisms and the incidence of acute rejection and infection. Transplant outcomes were reviewed in a retrospective cohort of 113 LTRs from a single center between December 2004 and November 2012. Cytokine polymorphisms were measured using sequence-specific primer-based PCR. HLA typing was performed for the donors and recipients. We found that the LTRs with the IL-10 -819 CC and -592 CC genotypes had a significantly decreased risk of infection (p = 0.017, OR = 0.177, 95% CI = 0.04-0.85). However, we found no significant association between cytokine polymorphisms and acute rejection. Furthermore, the data revealed that the occurrence of acute rejection was strongly associated with infection episodes (χ(2) = 8.5256, p < 0.01). These results suggest that LTRs possessing the IL-10 -819 CC and -592 CC genotype may be protected from the occurrence of infection. Our results demonstrated that infection is an important cause of acute rejection for LTRs.

Keywords: cytokine; infection; lung transplant; rejection; single nucleotide polymorphism.