The purpose of this study was to examine whether interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) 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-1 beta promoter and IL-1 beta 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-1 beta promoter between patients with gout and healthy control subjects. Additionally, we did not detect any association of the IL-1 beta 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, chi(2)= 12.52, OR 7.14, 95% CI 0.012 - 0.22). There was also a significant difference in the genotype of IL-1 beta exon 5 polymorphism between patients with and without hypertriglyceridemia. Results of the present study suggest that polymorphisms of the IL-1 beta promoter and IL-1 beta exon 5 are not related to gout patients in central Taiwan.
