BackgroundSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with immunogenetic factors. This study was planned to test for the association of TNF-α − 308 and IFN-γ + 874 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility and severity of SLE in Egyptian cases.Subjects and methodsThis is a case controlled study including 125 Egyptian cases with SLE in addition to 112 healthy unrelated individuals from the same locality. For all participants, TNF-α − 308 G > A and IFN-γ + 874 A > T genetic polymorphisms were characterized using the PCR technique.ResultsCases with SLE showed a significantly higher TNF-α − 308 A allele carriage rate (AA + GA genotypes) compared to controls (26.4% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.009, OR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.26–4.99). These cases showed also a significantly higher carriage rate for the IFN-γ + 874 T allele (AT + TT genotypes) compared to controls (47.2% vs. 32.1%, p = 0.02, OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.11–3.21). Comparing age, gender, and disease severity presented by nephritis class, activity and chronicity indices in cases carrying the TNF-α − 308 A allele and in cases carrying IFN-γ + 874 T allele versus others showed no significant difference (p > 0.05).ConclusionsTNF-α − 308 A and IFN-γ + 874 T allele carriage are associated with susceptibility but not severity of SLE in Egyptian subjects.

A high concentration of soluble ICAM-1 in Egyptian patients with SLE and nephritis is reported here for the first time. Our finding of increased concentrations of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and ICAM-1 in Egyptian patients with SLE and lupus nephritis underlines the importance of inflammation and endothelial involvement in this disorder, but their predictive value in the disease monitoring needs to be further studied.

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