Toll-like receptors 2 polymorphism is associated with psoriasis: A case-control study in the northern Chinese population

Abstract

Abstract Background Psoriasis is a disease caused by genetics and immune system dysfunction, affecting the skin and joints. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in triggering the innate immune response and controlling adaptive immunity. The role of TLR2 in the progression of psoriasis is not well understood. Methods A case-control study was conducted on a northern Chinese Han population, consisting of psoriasis patients and healthy control subjects. Genotyping was performed using the tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR), and allele and genotype frequencies of four SNPs in TLR2 were analyzed in 270 psoriasis patients and 246 healthy controls. Results Four TLR2 SNPs (rs11938228, rs4696480, rs3804099, rs5743699) were genotyped and found to be in linkage disequilibrium. The genotype distributions of rs11938228 and rs4696480 in two groups were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and statistically significant except for the overdominance model. The haplotypes ATTC and ATCC were found to be protective against psoriasis. Conclusion Our study found a correlation between TLR2 genetic variations and the likelihood of psoriasis in northern China.