Dectin-1 gene polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to nonspecific digestive disorders and cytokine expression in rabbits.

Dectin-1 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation by recognizing the pathogenic agents and mediating cytokine responses. The objective of this study was to establish the association between dectin-1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to nonspecific digestive disorders (NSDD) and cytokine expression in rabbits. A total of 7 coding SNP were detected in dectin-1 gene. The genetic association between SNP (ss707197675A > G) and susceptibility to NSDD was evaluated using a case-control study (178 cases and 174 controls). The results revealed that the A allele was associated with an increased risk of developing NSDD in rabbits. The AA genotype significantly increased the genetic susceptibility to NSDD with odds ratio of 4.76 (95% confidence interval, 1.92-12.50, P = 0.0002) compared with GG and GA genotypes. We also experimentally induced NSDD in another independent growing rabbit population by feeding a low-fiber diet and subsequently investigated the cytokine mRNA expression. Among the 4 studied cytokines, the expression of interferon-γ, IL-17F, and IL-22 were increased 2.8 to 6.0-fold in AA genotype compared with GG genotype (P < 0.01). The greater IL-17F and IL-22 mRNA expressions indicated a positive correlation with severe intestinal inflammation (P < 0.05). The decreased expression of IL-10 was associated with severe intestinal inflammation (P = 0.006), but IL-10 expression was not influenced by dectin-1 genotype. In conclusion, polymorphism ss707197675 of dectin-1 is related with susceptibility to NSDD and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and dectin-1 could be an important candidate gene associated with NSDD in rabbits.