Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood of 56 patients with acute rejection, and 56 patients with a stable graft function (SGF). A Polymerase chain reaction with the sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) was performed using related kits. The results were analyzed by statistical software SPSS and Epiinfo.
Results: The frequency of A and G alleles related to -308 and -138 positions of TNF-α, and alleles C and G of the -174 position related to IL-6 showed a significant association in patients with a transplanted kidney (Both AR and SGF) compared to controls (P value<0.05). Data related to both TNF-α SNPs, and GG, CG genotypes of -174 position (IL-6) revealed a significant relationship between AR and healthy controls. In addition, results from the comparison of SGF and healthy controls in -238(TNF-α) and -174(IL-6) positions showed a significant correlation. Haplotype analysis among study groups also displayed statistically significant associations.
Conclusion: This study found an association between TNF-α and IL-6 gene polymorphisms in kidney graft rejection or survival processes. More studies with greater samples of various populations are needed in order to confirm this finding.