Interleukin-10-1082 promoter polymorphism and ischemic stroke risk in a South Indian population

Within the past few years there has been increasing evidence that the genetic variation in the genes coding pro- and anti-inflammatory markers may play an important role in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, including stroke. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of Interleukin-10 (IL-10)-1082 G/A, promoter polymorphism (rs1800896) with ischemic stroke in a South Indian population from Andhra Pradesh. In this study 480 ischemic stroke patients and 470 age and sex matched healthy controls were included. The ischemic stroke patients were classified according to TOAST classification. The region of interest in the IL-10 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction with the use of allele specific oligonucleotide primers flanking the polymorphic region. Association between genotypes and stroke was examined by Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and Chi-square analysis. Significant difference was observed between the patients and healthy controls, in genotypic distribution as well as allelic frequency ( p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis with forward stepwise selection using the potential confounders (sex, age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and alcoholism) and IL-10 gene variant revealed that -1082 G/A polymorphism in the promoter region of IL-10 gene is significantly [adjusted OR = 2.26; 95% C.I. (1.24–4.15), p < 0.001] associated with ischemic stroke in the South Indian population from Andhra Pradesh. We found significant association of this polymorphism with stroke of undetermined etiology ( p < 0.001). Moreover, hypertensive and diabetic individuals bearing A allele of IL-10 gene in high frequency were found to be more predisposed to stroke.