Background: IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine, which may modulate disease expression in chronic inflammatory periodontal disease. 3 dimorphic polymorphisms within the IL-10 gene promoter have recently been identified and appear to influence regulation of its expression.
Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the promoter polymorphisms are associated with adult periodontitis (AP) and generalized early-onset periodontitis (G-EOP).
Methods: Genomic DNA was obtained from 34 AP patients, 18 G-EOP patients and 52 controls. The promoter region between -506 and -1140 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and polymorphisms were detected by nucleotide sequencing.
Results: The haplotype frequencies in Japanese were quite different from those of Caucasian and were even slightly different from those of southern Chinese with systemic lupus erythematosus. We found no significant difference in allele or haplotype frequencies between patients and controls.
Conclusions: IL-10 production may be regulated within the complex cytokine network in chronic inflammatory periodontal disease, rather than the gene polymorphisms.