ObjectiveTo investigate the associations of signal transducers and activators of transcription 6 (STAT6) gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to tuberculosis in western Chinese Han population.MethodsA total of 900 tuberculosis patients and 1 534 healthy controls of West China Hospital of Sichuan University were enrolled from January 2014 to February 2016. Improved multiplex ligation detection reaction method was used to detect four polymorphisms (rs1059513, rs73118432, rs841718, and rs10783813) of STAT6 gene. The allelic frequencies, genetic types, and different genetic models were analyzed using the chi-square test and unconditional logistic regression models to evaluate the associations of STAT6 gene with tuberculosis risk.ResultsEventually, a total of 856 cases and 1 511 health controls were recruited in our study. No significant differences were observed in allele frequencies, genotype distributions, or genetic models (additive model, dominant model and recessive model) at rs1059513, rs73118432, rs841718, and rs10783813 in STAT6 gene (P>0.05). We found a strong linkage disequilibrium among rs73118432, rs841718, and rs10783813, but there was no statistical difference in haplotype frequencies between the two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionsSTAT6 gene rs73118432, rs841718, rs10783813, and rs1059513 polymorphisms might have no associations with tuberculosis susceptibility in western Chinese Han population. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to comfirm these results.
