A large body of evidence for this conclusion has come from animal models of inflammatory disease that respond well to administration of exogenous IL-lra.
In view of previous studies suggesting a significant role for IL1RN polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of autoimmune/inflammatory disease, we have analysed polymorphisms of IL-1ra (IL1RN+2018) and its homologue IL-1L1 (IL1L1+4734) in a case-control association study on 165 patients and a large number of matched controls.
Polymorphisms within the IL-1beta and the IL-1RA genes (located on chromosome 2) are associated with altered protein production rates, and certain haplotypes have been linked to inflammatory disease (no studies in bacterial infectious disease have been published).
Thus, an imbalance between IL-1 and IL-1Ra may predispose to local inflammatory disease in particular tissues in the presence of other as yet unknown genetically influenced factors.
A large body of evidence for this conclusion has come from animal models of inflammatory disease that respond well to administration of exogenous IL-1ra.