The pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is complex, with several susceptibility genes and environmental factors involved in its development and clinical manifestation. Currently, there is a great amount of interest in the identification of biomarkers, as cytokines, that can quantify the susceptibility of SLE, the risk of future organ involvement, and association of their changes with disease activity. To investigate the associations between polymorphisms in the gene of Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and in the promoter of the Interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene and SLE. The polymorphisms +874 T/A (rs2430561) in the IFN-γ gene and -1082G/A (rs1800896) in the IL-10 promoter were determined in 99 SLE patients and 100 healthy controls among women Brazilian using the refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction method. Disease activity was assessed using the SLE activity index. There were significant differences in the distribution of the genotype T/A in IFN-γ gene polymorphism (+874) (χ (2) = 7.168; P = 0.0074) and the genotype G/A in IL-10 promoter polymorphism (-1082) (χ (2) = 4.654; P = 0.0310) between the SLE and control groups. However, no association was observed between clinical features and the polymorphisms studied. This study presents preliminary evidence for association between IL-10 and IFN-γ polymorphism and SLE susceptibility, but not with clinical features in a Northeast population from Brazil.

Cytokines have an important role in the progression of cervical lesions and/or adenocarcinoma. We investigated whether polymorphisms at the promoter regions of the IL-10 -1082 (A> G, rs1800896) and TNF-α -308 (G>A, rs1800629) genes were associated with susceptibility to progression of cervical dysplasia and adenocarcinoma. The study consisted of 240 women infected with HPV (72 with adenocarcinoma and 168 with cervical intraepithelial lesions), and 169 healthy control women. There was a significant increase in the frequency of the IL10 -1082G allele in both cervical dysplasia (OR = 1.39; P = 0.0372) and adenocarcinoma patients (OR = 2.19; P = 0.0002). For the TNF-α -308 polymorphism, there was higher susceptibility to cervical lesions, in relation to risk factors such as: age > 35 years old (OR = 2.57; p = 0.0057), age of first sexual intercourse 1st < 18 years old (OR = 6.6224, p < 0.0001), smoking (OR = 3.80; P = 0.0003), African ancestry (OR=5.18, p < 0.0001) and co-infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (OR=2.41, p=0.0315). Our findings suggest that polymorphisms in the IL-10 and TNF-α genes may play a role in the susceptibility or severity of cervical disease in the study population. Keywords: Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Interleukin 10; Cervical lesions; Adenocarcinoma; HPV.