Meta-analysis of the IL23R and IL12B polymorphisms in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Purpose: Polymorphisms in the genes encoding interleukin-23 receptor (IL23R) and the p40 subunit of IL-12/23 (IL12B) have been implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. However, results of different studies are inconsistent. Our aim was to perform a meta-analysis on this topic.

Methods: We assessed two variants (rs10889677 and rs7517847) of IL23R and the A1188C polymorphism (rs3212227) of IL12B. Electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus) were searched for eligible studies published until September 2014. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to investigate the strength of association in dominant, recessive, homozygote and allelic comparison models.

Results: Seven case-control studies with 2250 MS patients and 2320 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed no association of rs10889677 and rs7517847 with MS risk in any of the genetic models. Although the pooled analysis showed an association between rs3212227 and MS in all study subjects in dominant (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.66-0.99, P(h) = 0.480, P(z) = 0.044) and allelic comparison (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72-0.98, P(h) = 0.967, P(z) = 0.030) models, subgroup analysis based on ethnicity did not suggest an association between rs3212227 and MS risk in Caucasians in any of the genetic models, and there was no association between rs3212227 and MS risk in an Asian group.

Conclusions: The IL23R polymorphisms rs10889677, rs7517847, and the IL12B polymorphism rs3212227 are not associated with MS risk.

Keywords: IL12B; IL23R; meta-analysis; multiple sclerosis; polymorphism.