Interferon –γ Gene Polymorphism as a Biochemical Marker for Atopic dermatitis in Saudis

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by severe itching and recurrent, relapsing eczema-like skin lesions, affecting up to 15% of children in industrialized countries. AD is a complex multifactorial disease, and its exact etiology and pathogenesis have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of gene polymorphisms of T helper cell subtype Th1 cytokine, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) on AD susceptibility in a Saudi cohort.  Hundred four unrelated patients with AD and 195 healthy controls were genotyped for IFN-γ (874A/T) polymorphism. Genomic DNA was separated from the fringe blood of AD patients and controls utilizing the QIAampR DNA little unit. IFN-γ quality was enhanced utilizing intensification headstrong transformation frameworks (ARMS)- PCR philosophy to identify polymorphisms at position 874 of IFN-γ. The frequency of genotype AT of IFN-γ (874A/T) was significantly higher while genotype AA was lower in AD patients as compared to controls (P <0.001). The frequency of T containing genotypes (AT+TT) was also higher in AD patients as compared to that in controls (P = 0.001). The frequencies of allele T and A were statistically different in patients and controls (P = 0.04). These results indicated that genotype AT of IFN-γ (874A/T) polymorphism is associated with AD risk and genotype AA is protective to AD. It is concluded that IFN-γ (874A/T) polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility of AD, however further studies with a large sample size involving different ethnic populations should be conducted to strengthen these results.