This study aimed to explore whether interleukin-10 polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Studies that have analyzed the associations of the interleukin-10-1082G>A, -592C>A, and -819C>T polymorphisms with RA were searched for in PubMed and EMBASE. Sensitivity and cumulative analyses were conducted to measure the robustness of our findings. Egger's linear regression and Begg's funnel plots were performed to analyze publication bias. The source of heterogeneity was analyzed by subgroup analysis and meta-regression. This meta-analysis involved 2661 RA patients and 3249 controls in 16 studies. There were significant associations with RA in the AG vs AA model (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.67-0.93, P < 0.01) and the AG + GG vs AA model (OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.69-0.93, P < 0.01) for the interleukin-10-1082G>A polymorphism, in the TC vs TT model (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.44-0.84, P < 0.01) and the CC vs TT model (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.46-0.89, P < 0.01) for the interleukin-10-819C>T polymorphism, and in the AC vs AA model (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.56-0.96, P = 0.03) and the AC + CC vs AA model (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.47-0.98, P = 0.04) for the interleukin-10-592C>A polymorphism. Meta-regression revealed that the genotyping method was a major cause of heterogeneity in the AC vs AA model and the AC + CC vs AA model for the interleukin-10-592C>A polymorphism. This meta-analysis showed the interleukin-10-1082G>A, -592C>A, and -819C>T polymorphisms are correlated with the susceptibility to RA. Meta-regression indicated that the genotyping method is a major driver of heterogeneity in the relationship between the interleukin-10-592C>A polymorphism and RA.
Keywords: Interleukin-10; Meta-analysis; Polymorphism; Rheumatoid arthritis.