Influence of interferon-gamma Receptor 1 gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis among sudanese population.

Background: : A variety of genetic mutations are thought to be responsible for acquisition of different infections such as tuberculosis (TB). An obvious example for these variations is the link between pulmonary TB and polymorphisms within interferon-gamma receptor 1 (IFN-γ R1) gene. This project is designed to identify the role of IFN-γR1 gene polymorphism in the development of pulmonary TB among Sudanese patients attending several hospitals in Khartoum State.

Methods: One hundred (n = 100) patients with active TB and fifty (n = 50) matched healthy controls were investigated for the association of two genetic polymorphisms within IFN-γR1 gene and their risk of developing pulmonary tuberculosis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism were performed.

Results: Migrated IFN-γR1 DNA bands representing genotypes and polymorphic alleles were identified. Molecular findings revealed that two genetic variants, namely, -56C and +295C deletion 12 within IFN-γR1 gene, were nonsignificantly linked with increased risk of development of pulmonary TB, P = 0.771 and 0.343, respectively. Two genetic variants within IFN-γR1 gene were examined for suggested role in inducing development of TB.

Conclusion: The two genetic variants were found to have potential risk in association with active disease development among Sudanese patients. Further intensive research work involving use of large collection of samples should be conducted to verify these findings.