Novel Mutations in IL-10 Promoter Region -377 (C>T), -150 (C>A) and their Association with Psoriasis in the Saudi Population

Background: Psoriasis, a common cutaneous disorder characterized by inflammation and abnormalepidermal proliferation with a prevalence of 2-3% in the general population, may be linked to certain types ofcancer. Several studies have reported an association between interleukin 10 (IL-10) variant polymorphisms andinflammatory diseases such as psoriasis vulgaris although the results vary according to the population studied.No studies have been performed in the Saudi population. The present study concerned novel variants and othergenetic polymorphisms of the promoter and exonic regions of the IL10 gene in patients with moderate to severepsoriasis and potential differences in genotype compared to a group of healthy volunteers. Materials and
Methods:Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and healthy controls with no personal or family history of psoriasiswere selected from the central region of Saudi Arabia. Polymorphisms of the IL 10 gene of both groups weregenotyped.
Results: We observed two novel variants in 5’UTR region of the promoter precursor with higherprevalence of the genotype with both wild-type alleles in patients compared to the healthy control group. Thedifferences at positions -377 and -150 were significantly associated with disease, both the variants conferredstrong protection against psoriasis in Saudi patients.
Conclusions: This observation provides further support forthe importance of the part that IL10 plays in the pathophysiology of this disease. Confirmation of our findingsin larger populations of different ethnicities would provide evidence for the role of IL-10 in psoriasis.