Association between ULK1 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to multisystem tuberculosis

Abstract

Objectives: The association of ULK1 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to tuberculosis or multisystem tuberculosis remains unclear. Methods: We used a case‒control study in a Chinese Han population and included 411 patients with multisystem tuberculosis and 581 healthy controls. Four tag polymorphisms of the ULK1 gene at loci rs9481, rs7138581, rs11616018 and rs1134574 were selected and genotyped using a SNPscan Kit (Cat#: G0104, Genesky Biotechnologies Inc., Shanghai, China). Results: The minor allele C of rs7138581 showed a significantly reduced risk of susceptibility to multisystemic tuberculosis (OR: 0.759, 95% CI: 0.597-0.965; P=0.025) and showed a significant association after adjusting for age and sex (ORa: 0.770, 95% CI: 0.605-0.980; Pa=0.034). In the analysis of the additive model and dominant model, rs7138581 still showed a significant reduction in the risk of multisystem tuberculosis after adjusting for age and sex (ORa: 0.761, 95% CI: 0.595-0.974; Pa=0.03 and ORa: 0.754, 95% CI: 0.573-0.993; Pa=0.044). Conclusions: rs7138581 of the ULK1 gene may be associated with multisystem tuberculosis susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.