Association of DNA methyltransferase polymorphisms with susceptibility to primary gouty arthritis.

Gouty arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory and immune disease, and the prevalence and incidence of gout increases annually. Genetic variations in the DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) gene have not, to the best of our knowledge, been reported to influence gene expression and to participate in the pathogenesis of gout. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the , and polymorphisms contribute to gout susceptibility. These polymorphisms were screened for in 336 gout patients and 306 healthy control subjects (from a South China population) for association with gout. The distribution frequencies of rs2228611 AA genotype (P=0.007) and A allele (P=0.002; odds ratio=1.508, 95% confidence interval=1.158-1.964) were found to be significantly increased in the gout patients when compared with those in the healthy control subjects. The rs1550117 in and rs2424913 in exhibited no significant associations with gout susceptibility between the patients and control subjects. These results demonstrated that the rs2228611 polymorphism may be involved in the pathogenesis of gout, while rs1550117 and rs2424913 did not show any obvious significance in the current study; thus, may not be used as risk factors to predict the susceptibility to gout. However, further studies are required to investigate the functions and regulatory mechanism of the polymorphisms of in gout.