The purpose of this study was to examine
whether interleukin-1 beta (IL-1b) promoter and exon 5
gene polymorphisms are markers of susceptibility or
clinical manifestations in Taiwanese patients with gout.
The study included 196 patients in addition to 103
unrelated healthy control subjects living in central Taiwan.
From genomic DNA, polymorphisms of the gene
for IL-1b promoter and IL-1b exon 5 were typed. Allelic
frequencies were compared between the two groups, and
the relationship between allelic frequencies and clinical
manifestations of gout was evaluated. No significant
differences were observed in the allelic frequencies of the
IL-1b promoter between patients with gout and healthy
control subjects. Additionally, we did not detect any
association of the IL-1b promoter genotype with the
clinical and laboratory profiles of gout patients. However,
there was a significant difference between the two
groups in terms of hypertriglyceridemia (P=0.0004,
v2=12.52, OR 7.14, 95%CI 0.012–0.22). There was also
a significant difference in the genotype of IL-1b exon 5
polymorphism between patients with and without hypertriglyceridemia.
Results of the present study suggest
that polymorphisms of the IL-1b promoter and IL-1b
exon 5 are not related to gout patients in central Taiwan.
