The Interleukin-6 Gene Promoter Polymorphism -174 and Atherosclerotic Events in Overweight Transplanted Patients

• Main Authors: Jamal Bamoulid, Cécile Courivaud, Marina Deschamps, Béatrice Gaugler, Pierre Tiberghien, Jean-Marc Chalopin, Philippe Saas, Didier Ducloux
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
• Series: Journal of Transplantation
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/803429

Chronic inflammation plays a pivotal role in atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that combining overweight and a greater genetic capacity to produce IL-6 predicted by IL-6 gene promoter polymorphism at position -174 (G→C) may allow to identify individuals exhibiting higher IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations with a higher risk of atherosclerotic events (AE). The occurrence of AE was analyzed with respect to body mass index, IL-6 gene promoter polymorphism at position -174 (G→C), and other relevant risk factors, retrospectively, in 217 renal transplant recipients and, prospectively, in 132. Circulating IL-6 concentrations were closely related to BMI (r=0.55, P=.0005). In overweight patients, serum IL-6 concentration was found to be significantly lower in C carriers than in GG patients (4.2 [1.0–5.1] versus 7.3 pg/mL [4.4–100]; P=.025). The incidence of AE was higher in overweight GG patients (29.5% versus 10.1%; P=.0003). In multivariate analysis, overweight-GG had an increased risk to develop AE (HR 2.96 [95% CI 1.09–8.04], P=.034 in the retrospective cohort, and HR 2.99 [95% CI 0.92–9.33], P=.069 in the prospective cohort). All these data are consistent with a role for both genetic and environmental determinants of inflammation (white adipose tissue mass) in the development of AE in renal transplanted patients.