Association of Polymorphisms in Inflammatory Cytokines Encoding Genes With Anti-N-methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis in the Southern Han Chinese

Xing Li; Jiajia Zhu; Yu Peng; Hongbing Guan; Jinyu Chen; Zhanhang Wang; Dong Zheng; Nan Cheng; Honghao Wang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.553355

Association of Polymorphisms in Inflammatory Cytokines Encoding Genes With Anti-N-methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis in the Southern Han Chinese

Front Neurol. 2020 Dec 11:11:553355. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.553355. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Xing Li¹, Jiajia Zhu², Yu Peng², Hongbing Guan³, Jinyu Chen², Zhanhang Wang⁴, Dong Zheng⁵, Nan Cheng⁶, Honghao Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Neurology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Oral Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Oral Disease, Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Brain Hospital Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Hospital Affiliated to Institute of Neurology, Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.

Abstract

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that occur within genes encoding inflammatory cytokines can result in quantitative or qualitative changes in their expression or functionality, potentially leading to the development of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between SNPs in inflammatory cytokines genes and the incidence of anti-NMDAR encephalitis in the Southern Han Chinese. Methods: In total, we enrolled 107 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis as well as 202 inpatient controls who had no first-degree relative with autoimmune diseases. Genotyping determination of all 309 patients was conducted for the IL-1β rs16944, IL-4 rs2243250, IL-4 rs2070874, IL-6 rs1800796, IL-10 rs1800872, and IL-17 rs2275913 gene SNPs. Results: We observed statistically significant differences in the frequencies of G allele in IL-1β rs16944 between anti-NMDAR encephalitis and controls (p = 0.017). Also, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17 SNPs were not associated with the disease (p > 0.05). Conclusions: We found that patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis exhibit a distinct immunological profile, and we found that the decreased frequency of G allele in IL-1β rs16944 showed a protective role for anti-NMDAR encephalitis in the Southern Han Chinese.

Keywords: IL-1β; Southern Han Chinese; anti-NMDAR encephalitis; inflammatory cytokines; single nucleotide polymorphisms.