Gene polymorphism of leukotriene A4 hydrolase (rs17525495) among tuberculous meningitis and its associations with clinical corticosteroid treatments in Han population of Northern China

This study is to investigate the association between Leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H) single nucleotide polymorphisms and susceptibility to tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in Chinese Han population of Northern China, and its association with clinical treatment. Patients with TBM and healthy controls were enrolled. We investigated the gene polymorphism (rs17525495) of LTA4H and tuberculous meningitis by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, genotyping and PCR. TNF-α content in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the response to corticosteroid treatment in patients with TBM were investigated. The results showed that under recessive inheritance model, the genotype frequencies of TT in TBM group, TBM grade III group were obviously higher, and higher frequency was occurred in patients with unfavorable prognosis. Patients with favorable prognosis, TBM group, TBM group with grade III, genotype with TT showed notably higher level of TNF-α. The improvement rate of patients with genotype of CC and TT showed opposite results according to corticosteroid treatment. In conclusion, polymorphism of LTA4H (rs17525495) are associated with susceptibility to TBM in Northern China. Genotype TT in rs17525495 may be more likely to be involved in TBM and tend to be with severe condition, poor prognosis, higher level of TNF-α and active response to corticosteroid treatment. While patients with genotype CC showed negative responses to corticosteroid treatment.