IL17F rs763780 polymorphism is associated with unhealthy BMI and diabetes mellitus in patients with acute myocardial infarction

IL-17F induces expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines but its association with cardiovascular diseases is controversial. Rs763780T > C variant affects the potency of IL-17F in signaling and cytokine production. In the current study we investigated the frequency of IL-17F rs763780T > C in the patients with AMI in an Iranian population. The study group consisted of 175 AMI patients and 128 healthy blood donors. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and genotyped by polymerase-chain-reaction restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). While no significant difference in the frequency of IL-17F rs763780 SNP existed between patients and controls (P = 0.82 and P = 0.72, respectively), TT genotype was associated with type-2 diabetes mellitus (P = 0.034). Patients with BMI >30 and < 25 were more likely to carry T allele (P = 0.021). TT genotype and T allele were also associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (P = 0.001 and P = 0.032, respectively). Our data suggest that IL-17F variants are different in their relation with obesity. Obese individuals with AMI were more likely to carry the IL-17F major allele and AMI patients (but not controls) with diabetes had a higher frequency of IL-17F TT genotype, indicating the predisposing effect of T allele in inflammatory milieu. Also, the association of TT genotype and T allele with LVH may be related to the more potent induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines by IL-17F major allele. In conclusion, we suggest that IL-17F inflammatory activity affected by its SNPs could be as important as its expression level in clinical manifestations of AMI.