association between il12a rs568408, il12b rs3212227 and il-12 receptor rs383483 polymorphisms and risk of pulmonary tuberculosis

Background: interleukine-12 (il-12) induced interferon-γ (ifn- γ) production and development of t cells into th1 cells, which has a critical role in immunity to intracellular pathogens. objectives: the current study aimed to evaluate the possible association between il12a rs568408, il12b rs3212227 as well as il-12 receptor (il-12r) rs383483 polymorphisms and pulmonary tuberculosis (ptb). methods: this case-control study was conducted on 174 confirmed ptb patients and 177 healthy subjects in a sample of southeast iranian population. genotyping was performed by the tetra amplification refractory mutation system- polymerase chain reaction (t-arms-pcr) method. results: the frequencies of gg, ga and aa genotypes of il12a rs568408 variant in cases and controls were 58.9%, 38.5%, 1.7% and 61.6%, 37.3%, 1.1%, respectively. regarding rs3212227 variant, the frequencies of aa, ac and cc genotypes in cases and controls were 47.1%, 54.4%, 7.5% and 50.8%, 43.5%, 5.7%, respectively. concerning il12r rs383483 polymorphism, the frequencies of aa, ag and gg in cases and controls were 39.1%, 31.4%, 29.5% and 40.2%, 25.3%, 34.5%, respectively. there was no significant difference in allele and genotype frequency of il12a rs568408, il12b rs3212227 and il-12r rs383483 polymorphisms between patients with ptb and control groups (p > 0.05). conclusions: the findings of the current study show that neither il12a rs568408 and il12b rs3212227 nor il-12r rs383483 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of ptb in our population. further studies with larger sample sizes and various ethnicities are needed to certify our findings.