BackgroundMicroRNA 146a (miR-146a) is a 19 to 23 nucleotide long, small non-coding RNA with gene regulatory functions that has influence on the pathogenesis of many diseases. A single nucleotide polymorphism (rs2910164 C>G) in pre-miR-146a is correlated with the expression of miR-146a. The aim of this study was to perform an association analysis of rs2910164 with IgA nephropathy in adult patients from a Chinese Han population.MethodsA total of 145 patients with renal biopsy-proved IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and 179 healthy controls were recruited to the current study. rs2910164 was genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and high-resolution melting methods (HRM). Clinical characteristics and pathology grading of patients with IgAN were recorded at the time of kidney biopsy.ResultThere were significant differences among the population of patients grouped by different age of onset in a co-dominant model (CG vs. CC vs. GG) (p = 0.033) and a recessive model (CG+CC vs. GG) (p = 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in the distribution of genotypes between cases and controls (p = 0.144). There was also no significant difference between rs2910164 and patient quantitative traits (all p > 0.003) or different pathology grading (Lee’s grading system and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis in the Oxford classification) (all p > 0.05).ConclusionsThere was no association of rs2910164 with susceptibility to IgAN in adults from a Chinese Han population. However, rs2910164 was correlated with the age of onset of IgAN in adult patients.

Food allergies can alter the gut microbiome composition, increasing the risk of conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS). To identify the association between specific allergens and AS, we investigated the differences in the serum levels of 14 food antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G between AS patients and healthy participants. The association between the levels of these antibodies and disease activity was assessed by measuring the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). We enrolled 75 AS patients and 78 healthy controls who had undergone antigen-specific IgG tests in West China Hospital between January 2015 and October 2017, and performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for specific IgG against 14 food allergens: rice, egg, mushroom, milk, pork, chicken, beef, crab, codfish, corn, soybean, tomato, shrimp, and wheat. The following tests were used to analyze differences between AS patients and healthy controls: χ 2 test for sex, and a 2-tailed Student t -test or Mann–Whitney U test based on the results of Levene test for age and IgG levels. Correlations between IgG and CRP levels were calculated using a Spearman's correlation. AS patients had significantly higher serum levels of beef-, crab-, and pork-specific IgG than did healthy participants. In addition, the serum levels of pork-specific IgG were significantly and positively correlated with CRP. These results suggest that α-Gal, the predominant natural antigen in mammalian red meat, might play a potential role in the pathogenesis of AS, and therefore, AS patients should exclude such allergenic foods, including beef, crab and pork, from their daily diet.

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Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of axial skeleton and has strong genetic susceptibility. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been found playing an important role in the development of AS. This study intends to explore whether the susceptibility to AS is associated with rs2171513 C>T, rs1077667 G>A in LIGHT (lymphotoxin, expressed on T lymphocytes) and rs12609318 A>G in B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) in a Chinese Han population. We studied a total of 497 AS patients and 387 healthy controls in the current research. Clinical characteristics were recorded when they were recruited. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and high-resolution melting methods (HRM). Statistically significant difference was found in both co-dominant model (GG vs. GA vs. AA) (p = 4.00E-06) and alleles (p = 4.59E-08) of rs1077667 between patients and controls. There was also a significant difference in alleles of rs2171513 (p = 0.037) between patients and controls. We found rs1077667 in LIGHT and rs2171513 in BTLA with susceptibility to AS, while 12609318 in LIGHT associate with susceptibility to AS. Our results showed that LIGHT might be involved in pathogenesis of AS.