Objective: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by the T-cell excessive activation of intestinal mucosa. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a negative regulator of T-lymphocyte activation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between CTLA-4 promoter -1722 (T/C), -1661 (A/G) polymorphisms and ulcerative colitis (UC) in Han Chinese, in Hubei province of central China.
Methods: Eighty-seven patients with UC and 116 healthy controls were genotyped for CTLA-4 promoter -1722 and -1661 polymorphisms with a method of polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: The frequency of "A/G + G/G" genotype at the -1661 site was statistically higher in UC patients than in healthy controls (34.5% vs 15.5%, P = 0.002, OR = 2.865, 95% CI = 1.467-5.596). The frequency of the G allele at the -1661 site was also significantly higher in UC patients than in the controls (19.0% vs 8.2%, P = 0.002, OR = 2.624, 95% CI = 1.435-4.796). However, the distribution of the genotypes at -1722 site was not significantly different between the UC patients and the controls.
Conclusion: The G allele of CTLA-4 promoter -1661 polymorphism showed a highly significant association with UC in Han Chinese of the central China.