Abstract: Objective To assess the association between polymorphism within the interleukin-10 receptor cDNA gene (IL-10R) and Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods The IL-10R genotypes of 94 SLE patients and 80 healthy subjects were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism method (RT-PCR-SSCP),RT-PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequencing.Results There were significant differences in the IL-10R2 genotype frequencies of these two groups.The IL-10R2 G520/G520 genotype increased the risk of developing SLE (OR=0.515,95% CI 0.414-0.579,P=0.004) and individuals who had G520/A520 genotype also had a higher susceptibility to SLE (OR=1.968,95% CI 0.981-3.949,P=0.055).There was no significant association between SLE and IL-10R1 genotypes.The risk of developing SLE was detected in the individuals who had the combination of IL-10R1 G241/G241 and IL-10R2 G520/G520 (OR=0.515,95% CI 0.444-0.597,P=0.004).Conclusion The IL-10R2 genotypes of G520/G520 and G520/A520 as well as the combination of genotypes IL-10R1G241/G241 and IL-10R2 G520/G520 may increase the susceptibility to SLE in Chinese people.

Key words: Lupus erythematosus,systemic, Receptors,interleukin, Polymorphism,single-stranded conformational