The absence of an association between Interleukin 1beta gene polymorphisms and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS).

OBJECTIVES: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a chronic, ulcerative disease with a probable polygenic mode of inheritance and complex etiology with a strong immunological background. The aim of the present study was to determine the possible association between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the IL-1beta gene: IL-1beta-511 T>C (rs16944) and IL-1beta+3954C>T (rs1143634) and RAS susceptibility in a moderately large group of patients. DESIGN: One hundred and four patients with minor, major and herpetiform RAS and 75 healthy volunteers were genotyped at IL-1beta-511 T>C (rs16944) and IL-1beta+3954C>T (rs1143634) using the PCR-RFLP approach. The results were statistically analysed with chi-square test and test of difference between two rates of structure, with p<0.05 assumed to be a statistically significance level (Statistica 10, StatSoft((R)), Krakow, Poland). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the genotype distribution for the IL-1beta C[+3954]T polymorphism between the RAS and control groups. The frequency of IL-1beta*T[-511]/*T[-511] homozygotes among the patients was significantly higher when compared to our study control (p<0.0347). The results after stratification into carriers and non-carriers of C and T alleles did not clearly indicate which SNP may be considered a risk factor for RAS. CONCLUSIONS: The genetic association between the studied SNPs of the IL-1beta gene and RAS remains controversial and requires further investigation.