Association between STAT4 Gene Polymorphisms and Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases in a Chinese Population

The STAT4 gene encodes a transcriptional factor that transmits signals induced by several key cytokines which play important roles in the development of autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the association of STAT4 polymorphism with Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). A total of 1048 autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) patients (693 with GD and 355 with HT) and 909 age- and gender-matched controls were examined. STAT4 polymorphisms (rs7574865/rs10181656/rs7572482) were genotyped by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase detection reaction (LDR). The results indicated that the frequencies of rs7574865 genotypes in patients with GD differed significantly from the controls (p = 0.028), the T allele frequency of GD patients was also significantly higher than the controls (p = 0.020). The genotypes of rs10181656 differed significantly in GD patients from controls (p = 0.012); G allele frequencies were significantly higher in AITD patients than the controls (p = 0.014 and 0.031, respectively). The frequencies of haplotype GC with GD and HT patients were significantly lower than their controls (p = 0.015 and 0.030, respectively). In contrast, the frequencies of haplotype TG with GD and HT patients were significantly higher than their controls (p = 0.016 and 0.048, respectively). These findings strongly suggest that STAT4 rs7574865/rs10181656 polymorphisms increase the risk of AITD in a Chinese population.