OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of gene polymorphism of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) with ulcerative colitis (UC) in Chinese.

METHODSOne hundred and seventeen patients with UC and 246 healthy controls were genotyped for the polymorphisms of C-658T in the promoter and C61T at the 3' untranslated region of the CTLA-4 gene using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), respectively. The genotype and allele frequencies of the two groups were calculated and compared by chi square test.

RESULTSThe frequency of TT+CT genotype at the CTLA-4 gene C-658T in the promoter was significantly higher in UC patients than that in healthy controls (P=0.015). The frequency of the T allele at this locus was also significantly higher in UC patients than that in the controls (P=0.033). The frequencies of TT genotype and T allele at the C-658T locus were highly associated with extensive colitis in UC patients (P=0.037, and P=0.0067, respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe T allele of CTLA-4 promoter C-658T locus was highly associated with UC in Chinese Han of central China.