Objectives: Although the etiopathogenesis of Behcet's disease (BD) remains unknown, increased neutrophil functions such as chemotaxis, phagocytosis and excessive production of reactive oxygen species, including superoxide anion, may be responsible for the oxidative tissue damage observed in BD. Cytochrome P-450 are a multigene family of enzymes involved in the detoxification and occasional activation of a wide variety of chemicals. Our aim was to investigate CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 polymorphisms in patients with BD.
Methods: Sixty-two subjects with BD and 107 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. Polymorphisms of CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 were performed by real-time PCR with a LightCycler instrument. We researched associations between CYP polymorphisms and BD.
Results: The frequencies of wild-type and heterozygous CYP2C19*2 genotypes were 66.1% and 33.9% in the patients and 83.2% and 16.8% in the controls, respectively. There was a 2.53-fold increased risk of Behcet's disease in individuals with the CYP2C19*2 heterozygous genotype (OR = 2.53; 95% CI, 1.22-5.25) when compared with the control group. But the CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3 and CYP2C19*3 gene polymorphisms were not related to an increased risk of developing BD.
Conclusions: We observed that patients with BD presented with a higher prevalence of the heterozygous CYP2C19*2 genotype. Hereditary deficiencies of this enzyme activity may lead to an imbalance between pro- and antioxidant systems, resulting in the formation of excessive reactive oxygen species.