Cytokine Polymorphisms and Predisposition to Diabetic Nephropathy: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Cytokine polymorphismsmight influence the predisposition to diabetic nephropathy (DN), but the results of already published related studies are still controversial and ambiguous. Objectives: The authors designed this meta-analysis to more precisely estimate relationships between TNF-alpha/IL-1/IL-4/IL-8/IL-18polymorphisms and DN by pooling the results of already published related studies. Methods: The authors searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science and CNKI for already published studies. Thirty already published studies were pooled and analyzed in this meta-analysis. Results: The overall pooled meta-analysis results showed that distributions of TNF-alpha -238 G/A, TNF-alpha -308 G/A, TNF-alpha -1031 C/T, IL-1A -889 C/T, IL-1B -511 C/Tand IL-18 -137 G/C polymorphisms among patients and controls differed significantly. Additionally, we also found that distributions of TNF-alpha -308 G/A, IL-1B -511 C/T and IL-18 -137 G/C polymorphisms among patients and controls from Asians differed significantly, and the distribution of the IL-1B -511 C/T polymorphism among patients and controls from Caucasians also differed significantly. Conclusion: The meta-analysis results demonstrated that TNF-alpha -238 G/A, TNF-alpha -308 G/A, TNF-alpha -1031 C/T, IL-1A -889 C/T, IL-1B -511 C/Tand IL-18 -137 G/Cpolymorphisms might influence predisposition to DN in the overall pooled population. Moreover, TNF-alpha -308 G/A, IL-1B -511 C/T and IL-18 -137 G/C polymorphisms might influence predisposition to DN in Asians, whereas the IL-1B -511 C/T polymorphism might also influence predisposition to DN in Caucasians.

Automated summary

The meta-analysis suggests that cytokine polymorphisms may have an impact on diabetic nephropathy, with significant differences in genotype distributions between patients and controls, as well as among different ethnic groups. This indicates a potential influence of genetic variations on susceptibility to DN in different populations.