ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Biotecnologica 2019 March;31(1):49-53

DOI: 10.23736/S1120-4826.18.02484-9

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Toll-like receptor 9 gene polymorphisms rs352140 confer susceptibility to graft-versus-host disease in allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Massimiliano BERGALLO ✉, Ilaria GALLIANO, Paola MONTANARI, Cristina CALVI, Marco RASSU, Valentina DAPRÀ

Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Medical School, Turin, Italy

BACKGROUND: Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) can be considered as an accentuated but normal inflammatory response by donor cells against foreign antigens present in the tissues of the recipient. The TLR9 signaling pathway has long been known to play a critical role in antitumor activity and immune responses; however, the underlying mechanism of the role of TLR9 in GVHD remains poorly understood. The role of TLR9 gene levels in the occurrence of GVHD has gained attention for many years. Emerging data showed that two SNPs in the human TLR9 gene, T1486C and T1237C, have been confirmed to downregulate the expression of TLR9 mRNA.
METHODS: Human genomic DNA was isolated from PBMC of a total of 88 consecutive pediatric patients underwent T-cell-replete HSCT at our center from September 2015 to December 2017.
RESULTS: We did not find any difference in term of GvHD susceptibility about TLR9 polymorphism analyzed. We did not find any difference in term of aGvHD or cGvHD susceptibility about TLR9 polymorphism analyzed.
CONCLUSIONS: Although the findings reported here are limited by the number of patients analyzed and needed to be further explored, including the exact influence of these polymorphisms on TLR9 function and expression, our data are opposite to those previously reported in the recent literature.

KEY WORDS: Graft vs host disease - Toll-like receptor 9 - Real-time polymerase chain reaction