Analysis of Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Variable Number Tandem Repeat Variant in Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

Background/Aims: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the common oral inflammatory diseases. As immunological and genetic factors have been held responsible for the pathogenesis of RAS, the objective of this study was to determine whether the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) gene variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) variant is a risk factor for the development of RAS in Turkish patients and to define its contribution to the increased risk. Methods: The IL-1Ra VNTR variant was evaluated in 169 RAS patients and 171 healthy controls by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Results: No statistically significant difference was found in the genotype distributions and allele frequencies of IL-1Ra VNTR variant between RAS patients and healthy controls. Conclusion: Lack of association between IL-1Ra VNTR variant and RAS could indicate that IL-1Ra has no significant role in the pathophysiology of RAS. However, it still appears to be very worthwhile to continue to search for cytokine gene variants in order to predict the development of such disease.