Abstract

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) plays an important role in the regulation of autoinflammatory diseases including primary gout. The G/C polymorphism (rs2910164) in the precursor sequence of miR-146a caused its stem region to change from G: U to C: U,which can contribute to the susceptibility of human diseases. However, no genetic relevance studies of miR-146a gene polymorphisms to gout have been reported by now.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between the miR-146a rs2910164 genetic polymorphism and the susceptibility of the Chinese Han population to primary gout.

Methods: 1130 Chinese Han participants (including 606 primary gout patients and 524 gender and age-matched healthy control subjects) were recruited and the 5'exonuclease TaqMan® technology was used to perform miR-146a rs2910164 genotyping.

Results: After statistical analysis, no significant differences were observed between gout patients and healthy controls in genotype and allele frequency.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that there is no evidence for the involvement of the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphisms in susceptibility to primary gout in the Chinese Han population.

Keywords: miR-146a, rs2910164, polymorphisms, gout, susceptibility, hyperuricemia.