• You Li, Chen Du, Wei Wang, Guoda Ma, Lili Cui, Haihong Zhou, Hua Tao, Lifen Yao, Bin Zhao, and Keshen Li.
• Guangdong Key Laboratory of Age-Related Cardiac and Cerebral Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College, Zhanjiang, China.
• Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 2015 Jan 1;35(1):281-91.

BackgroundmiR-146a polymorphisms have been involved in susceptibility to multiple diseases. The aim of the present study was to analyze the potential association between two functional miR-146a polymorphisms (rs2910164 and rs57095329) and multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Han Chinese population.MethodsA cohort of 525 patients and 568 healthy controls were genotyped to detect the two polymorphisms by SNaPshot.ResultsNo significant differences were detected in the distribution of the two miR-146a polymorphisms between the patients and controls (P > 0.05). However, stratification by gender showed a statistically significant difference in the frequency of the genotype rs2910164 between MS patients and control females (P=0.009). Further stratification analysis by subgroup revealed that the miR-146a rs2910164 C allele conferred a higher risk of developing relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (P=0.018). In addition, the rs2910164 C allele was significantly associated with increased expression of miR-146a in patients with RRMS (P=0.025). Moreover, patients with the rs2910164 C allele released more TNF-α and IFN-γ, but not IL-1β, compared with individuals carrying the homozygous GG genotype (P < 0.05).ConclusionsOur results provide evidence that rs2910164 may play a role in MS susceptibility in females. The rs2910164 G>C variation may affect the expression of miR-146a and the release of proinflammatory cytokines.© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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