Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms in patients with multiple sclerosis

The expression level of interleukin-10 (IL-10) is related to polymorphisms −1082 (G/A), −819 (T/C) and −592 (A/C) in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene. The distribution of these polymorphisms was analyzed to determine whether they could influence disease susceptibility or clinical course in multiple sclerosis (MS). The −1082 (G/A), −819 (T/C) and −592 (A/C) genotypes were similarly distributed between MS patients and the controls. The primary progressive MS patients with the low IL-10 expression haplotype showed a trend towards a worse clinical outcome than did patients with medium- or high-expression haplotypes ( P=0.056). The polymorphisms did not influence the clinical course in patients with relapsing–remitting MS.