Association of a TNIP1 Polymorphism with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Syndrome but Not with Ocular Behcet’s Disease in Han Chinese

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the association of TNFα-induced protein 3 interacting with protein 1 (TNIP1) gene polymorphisms with Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) syndrome and Behcet’s disease (BD) in a Han Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 656 BD patients, 961 VKH syndrome patients and 1534 healthy controls were included in this two-stage case control study. Seven SNPs, including rs17728338, rs7708392, rs10036748, rs3762999, rs999556, rs4958881 and rs3792783, belonging to TNIP1 were genotyped and analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The data were analyzed by using the χ2 or Fisher's exact test and corrected for multiple comparisons by the Bonferroni method. RESULTS: A significantly increased frequency of the GG genotype and a decreased frequency of the AG genotype of rs17728338 were found in VKH patients (Pc = 0.038 OR = 1.934, 95% CI = 1.438∼2.601). No significant difference was noted in allele or genotype frequencies of rs7708392, rs10036748, rs3762999, rs999556, rs4958881 and rs3792783, between VKH patients and healthy controls (Pc>0.05). No significant difference was noted in allele or genotype frequencies of the tested 7 SNPs between BD patients and healthy controls. Analysis of extraocular clinical findings, did not reveal an association of the TNIP1 gene polymorphisms with BD or VKH syndrome subgroups. CONCLUSION: A TNIP1 polymorphism may be a risk factor for VKH syndrome in Han Chinese.