IL18 Gene Polymorphism Influences Age of Onset of DM1 in African Ancestry Brazilians.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin-18 ( IL18 ) gene (rs187238, g.-137G > C; rs1946518, g.-607C > A) and one SNP of the IL12B gene (rs3212227 g.*159A > C, 3'UTR) with the age of onset for type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). A total of 1,101 patients with DM1 enrolled in 13 centers from different regions of Brazil were genotyped with TaqMan assay and classified according to the ancestry. Our results show that an SNP in IL18 gene could be associated with DM1 age onset, taking into account that this studied variation affects gene expression.