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Objective The aim of this study was to analyse whether the polymorphisms of several pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines may influence the susceptibility to predominantly oral Mucous membrane pemphigoid ( MMP) in a Northern Italian population. Material and Methods DNA was obtained from 41 MMP patients (29 with exclusively oral pemphigoid [ OP]) and 140 unrelated bone marrow donors. Thirteen cytokine genes with 22 single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNP) were studied by a sequence-specific PCR assay. Results There was no significant difference between the patients taken together and healthy controls for any cytokine gene polymorphism studied. However, the allele A of the IL-4 receptor A ( IL-4 RA) was significantly more frequent in OP than controls ( P < 0.05), causing an increased frequency of genotype A/A in OP patients (89.7 vs 67.9, odds ratio: 4.11, 95% confidence intervals 1.18-14.28, P = 0.023, Pc = 0.046). Conclusion IL-4 RA-1902 A/A genotype has been associated with a reduced response to IL-4 and has been found in 90% OP patient. Giving the supposed importance of IL-4 in MMP fibrotic process, our results can partially explain the low likelihood of scarring in OP patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral Diseases (2011) , 309-313 Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and resembles graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) both clinically and histologically. The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes encode a family of receptors expressed on NK and T cells and are supposed to play a significant role in GVHD and HCV infection. The aim of this study was to analyze the association among OLP, HCV infection and variants in KIR gene expression. A total of 81 patients with OLP (36 HCV+ve and 45 HCV−ve) and 217 healthy controls (HCV−ve) were typed for the presence of eight KIR genes and of HLA-Cw* alleles by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer. There were no significant differences in the frequency of the KIR genes and HLA-C1/C2 group alleles between cases and controls. We only found a significant difference in the frequency of the gene KIR2DL2 between HCV+ve and HCV−ve OLP patients. The present data suggest that OLP is not associated with particular KIR genes or with HLA-Cw* alleles in patients without HCV infection. Contrarily, the role of the genes in OLP-HCV+ve patients remains unclear and might warrant further researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]