Association between interleukin 12B and interleukin 23R gene polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether polymorphisms of interleukin 12B (IL12B) and IL23 receptor genes (IL23R) confer susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: A meta-analysis was conducted to analyze the associations between SLE and IL12B rs3212227 and rs17860508 and IL23R rs7517847, rs10489629, rs10889677, rs1004819, rs11209026, rs11209032, rs1343151, and rs1884444 polymorphisms using allele contrast, dominant, recessive, heterozygote, and homozygote models. Ten studies involving 1989 patients with SLE and 2394 controls were considered for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The meta-analysis using the homozygote model revealed that IL23R rs10889677 was significantly associated with SLE susceptibility in the overall population (AA vs. CC) (odds ratio = 0.70, 95% confidence interval = 0.50–0.98) but not in the Asian population. Other polymorphisms of IL12B and IL23R were not significantly associated with SLE protection. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the IL23R rs10889677 polymorphism confers SLE susceptibility to individuals of certain ethnicities. (Research Registry number: 1268)