Objective: Inflammation may play an important role in the etiopathology of febrile convulsions (FC). IL-1β is an important mediator of inflammation and fever is also important information of FCs. It is suggested that there may be a relationship between polymorphisms of IL-1β and FC. The aim of the present study is to investigate the polymorphic situation of promoter region of IL-1β in two sites (-31 and -511) and assess the IL-1 RA VNTR polymorphisms in FC patients in comparison with healthy control groups.
Materials and methods: Fifty FC patients and 50 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. DNA extraction was performed by QIAamp DNA Mini Kit from peripheral blood lymphocytes of all subjects. IL-1β promoter polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-RFLP, IL-1 RA VNTR polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-agarose gel electrophoresis.
Results: Genotype distribution of IL-1β promoter region in position -31 was statistically different between FC patients and control groups. Allele I and allele II of IL-1 RA distribution were also statistically different in FC patients and healthy controls.
Conclusions: We have found a significant association between IL-1 RA allele distribution and FC and a poor correlation of T/C substitution at the -31 position of IL-1β promoter in FC. Further studies are needed to investigate the gene expression levels and polymorphic situation in same samples.