Genetic Influences on Plasma Cytokine Variation in a Parasitized Population

Document Type

Article

Authors

Sarah Williams-Blangero, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549.
Rodrigo Corrêa-Oliveira, Centro de Pesquisas Rene ́ Rachou, FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
John L. Vandeberg, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549, Southwest National Primate Research Center, San Antonio, Texas.
Janardan Subedi, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Gerontology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Ram Prasad Upadhayay, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549.
Dev Raj Rai, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549.
Bharat Jha, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
John Blangero, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549.

Abstract

The soil-transmitted helminths are the most common helmin- thic infections, affecting about one-fourth of the world’s population. There is a significant genetic component to susceptibility to infection with these organisms. Substantial changes in plasma cytokine levels are associated with helminthic infections, and there may be significant genetic components to this cytokine variation. Six plasma cytokine levels were assessed for 367 members of a single pedigree from the Jirel population of eastern Nepal. This population experiences moderate rates of infection with geohelminths. Sex, age, helminthic infection, infection with Giardia, and presence of a household latrine were considered as covariates in all analyses of the cyto- kine data. The analyses of the single Jirel pedigree revealed significant herita- bilities for IFN-� (h2 � 0.654 � 0.096), TNF-� (h2 � 0.458 � 0.101), IL-2 (h2 � 0.583 � 0.101), IL-4 (h2 � 0.700 � 0.095), IL-5 (h2 � 0.676 � 0.087), and IL-10 (h2 � 0.597 � 0.093). The ratios of IL-4 to IFN-� and of IL-10 to IFN-� were used as indicators of the degree of type 2 bias in immunological response; analyses of these variables indicated that approximately 40–60% of the variation (h2 � 0.400–0.577) in these derived measures of relative type 2/type 1 response is due to genetic factors.

Recommended Citation

Williams-Blangero, Sarah; Corrêa-Oliveira, Rodrigo; Vandeberg, John L.; Subedi, Janardan; Upadhayay, Ram Prasad; Rai, Dev Raj; Jha, Bharat; and Blangero, John (2004) "Genetic Influences on Plasma Cytokine Variation in a Parasitized Population," Human Biology: Vol. 76: Iss. 4, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol76/iss4/2