Gene Polymorphisms of and and Meningitis in Angolan Children.

Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a severe disease caused by various bacterial pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) protect humans from invading pathogens. In this study, we determined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of and are associated with susceptibility to and outcome of BM in Angolan children. Samples were taken from 241 patients and 265 age-matched ethnic controls. The SNPs rs4986790 (896A > G) and rs187084 (-1486T > C) were determined by high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA). The frequency of variant genotypes in was significantly higher in patients with meningitis than controls (odds ratio (OR), 2.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2-5.4; = 0.021), whereas the frequency of variant genotypes in was significantly lower in patients with meningitis than controls (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9; = 0.036). No such differences were found with other causative pathogens, such as and . At the time of discharge, patients with meningitis caused by Gram-negative bacteria who were carriers of variant genotypes had a higher risk of ataxia (OR, 12.91; 95% CI, 1.52-109.80; = 0.019) and other neurological sequelae (OR, 11.85; 95% CI, 1.07-131.49; = 0.044) than those with the wild-type genotype. Our study suggests an association between meningitis and genetic variation between and in Angolan children.