BACKGROUND In age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the complement system is thought to be activated by chronic oxidative damage with genetic variants identified in the alternative pathway as susceptibility factors. However, the involvement of the lectin pathway of complement, a key mediator of oxidative damage, is controversial. This study investigated whether mannose-binding lectin (MBL) lev...

Previous studies of the association between the mannose-binding lectin pathway deficiencies and invasive pneumococcal disease are inconclusive. Invasiveness of Streptococcus pneumoniae is dependent on serotype. We aimed to determine the association between invasive pneumococcal disease and MBL2 and MASP2 genetic variants, regarding serotype distribution. A hospital-based case-control study was ...

OBJECTIVE To study the association between cervical insufficiency and single nucleotide polymorphisms in seven genes coding for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine-related factors, mannose-binding lectin 2 (MBL2), collagen1α1 (COL1A1), factor II and factor V Leiden genes. METHODS In a case-control study, potential maternal biomarkers for cervical insufficiency were investigated in 30 women wi...

MBL (mannose-binding lectin) is primarily a liver-derived collagen-like serum protein. It binds sugar structures on micro-organisms and on dying host cells and is one of the four known mediators that initiate activation of the complement system via the lectin pathway. Common variant alleles situated both in promoter and structural regions of the human MBL gene (MBL2) influence the stability and...

Progressive visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is fatal if not treated; yet, most infections with the causative agents are asymptomatic. We hypothesized that genetic factors contribute to this variable response to infection. The mannose-binding lectin 2 gene (MBL2) is a candidate that merits examination in the context of VL because it enhances infection with intracellular pathogens. Four functional MB...

Mannose binding lectin (MBL) is a central component of the innate immune response and thus may be important for determining hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence. Since single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding MBL (mbl2) alter the level of functional MBL, we hypothesized that mbl2 genotypes are a determinant of HBV persistence or recovery from viral infection. We tested this hy...

BACKGROUND Human ficolin 2 (encoded by FCN2) and mannose-binding lectin (encoded by MBL2) bind to specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns, activate the complement lectin cascade in a similar manner, and are associated with several infectious diseases. Our recently published study established certain FCN2 promoter variants and ficolin-2 serum levels as protective factors against schistos...

AIM This case-control study was aimed to explore the role of mannose-binding lectin 2 (MBL2) gene rs1800450 polymorphism (codon 54 A/B, G230A) in the development of sepsis in Han Chinese. METHODS MBL2 rs1800450 polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). MBL serum level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ...

In kidney transplantation, complement activation was found to be induced by donor brain death, renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and allograft rejection. There are three known pathways of complement activation: the classical, lectin and the alternative pathway. The lectin complement pathway can be activated upon pattern recognition by mannan binding lectin (MBL) or ficolins (FCN). Single nucleo...

Because chronic intestinal inflammation is a risk factor for colorectal cancer, we hypothesized that genetic variants of inflammatory mediators, such as mannose-binding lectin 2 (MBL2), are associated with colon cancer susceptibility. Here, we report the association of 24 MBL2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and corresponding haplotypes with colon cancer risk in a case-control study. Four...