“The Association of the IL-1RA (rs315952) Cytokine Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Meta-analysis”

Abstract

Through a general retrospective analysis of the IL-1RAmspa11,100 (rs315952) cytokine gene polymorphism's genotypes and alleles, the T/T genotype, along with the individual T allele, shows significant associations with the risk of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Meanwhile, the C/C and C/T genotypes, as well as the individual C allele, exhibited no significant associations. These results imply that having a homozygous genotype for the T allele increases the likelihood of SLE occurrence, while having a single C allele may induce a protective effect against the disease. To obtain these results, the researchers employed the analysis of six selected case-control and cross-sectional studies on healthy individuals SLE patients diagnosed through PCR tests. Forest plot construction was done to assess potential overlapping confidence intervals among the qualified studies. To identify the degree of heterogeneity among the papers, the odds ratio and the total confidence intervals, with the confidence interval set at 95%, were acquired through fixed and random effects models. Genotype and allele analyses with I2 statistics higher than 40% led to the funnel plot construction for outlier detection. Currently, the underlying processes that led to these genes' and alleles' varying outcomes to SLE risk remain elusive. Meanwhile, the subjects' IL-1RA haplotypes may undermine these findings, along with the need for environmental consideration and the potential alteration of the gene and its corresponding alleles due to epigenetics. However, these findings still remain a possible starting point or reference for future studies.