Purpose: To investigate the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and two chemokine genes (CCL2 and CCL5) in patients with anterior uveitis (AU).
Methods: Seventy-nine Chinese patients with acute AU were recruited, and genotyping of four SNPs including MnSOD 47, CCL2 -2518, CCL2 -2076, and CCL5 -403 alleles was performed with SNP genotyping assays. The genotype and allele frequencies were compared between patients with AU and 206 healthy control subjects. Analyses were also stratified according to the HLA-B27 status of the patients.
Results: There were significant increases in the frequency of the AA homozygosity in the MnSOD 47 SNP (P = 0.049) and in the CCL2 -2518G allele frequency and GG homozygosity in patients with AU compared with control subjects (P = 0.017 and P = 0.024, respectively). No significant association was found between AU with the CCL2 -2076 and CCL5 -403 SNPs. Subgroup analyses showed that the MnSOD 47A polymorphism was significantly associated with AU in HLA-B27-positive patients, but not in HLA-B27-negative patients, whereas the CCL2 -2518G polymorphism was significantly associated with AU in HLA-B27-negative patients, but not in HLA-B27-positive patients.
Conclusions: The 47A polymorphism in the MnSOD gene and the -2518G polymorphism in the CCL2 gene are associated with the development of AU in HLA-B27-positive and -negative Chinese patients, respectively. Further studies to evaluate the interactions of the HLA-B27 status and these SNPs are warranted.