Polymorphisms of interleukin-1 and interleukin-2 genes in patients with gastric cancer in Korea

Background and Aim: Interleukin (IL)‐1 gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with the increment of gastric cancer (GC) and the decrement of duodenal ulcers (DU). In addition, IL‐2 is known to induce Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)‐associated gastric atrophy, but it is not known whether IL‐2 gene polymorphism increases the risk of GC (GC) or peptic ulcer diseases. Therefore, we compared the genotypes of IL‐1B, IL‐1RN, and IL‐2 gene polymorphisms with risk of gastric ulcers (GU), GC, and DU in Korean patients. Methods: In total, 116 GU, 122 GC, and 104 DU patients were included consecutively and compared with 100 healthy controls. Polymorphisms of the IL‐1B‐511/‐31 gene, the penta‐allelic variable number of tandem repeats of the IL‐1RN gene, and the IL‐2‐330 gene were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction with restriction fragment length polymorphism or confronting two‐pair primers methods. Results: The age–sex‐adjusted odds ratios (OR) for the IL‐1B‐511 T genotype relative to the C/C genotype (OR = 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.41–1.65), IL‐1RN*2 genotype relative to the L/L genotype (OR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.41–1.78), and IL‐2‐330 T genotype relative to the G/G genotype (OR = 1.94, 95% CI 0.76–4.96) were not increased in GC. There was also no significant difference in the genotypes of these cytokine polymorphisms between the study group (GU or DU) and control group. In addition, genotypic frequency was not associated with H. pylori positivity and histological type of GC. Conclusion: IL‐1B‐511, IL‐1RN, and IL‐2 genetic polymorphisms were not important contributors to the pathogenesis of GU, GC, and DU in Korean patients.