Genetic polymorphism and cytogenetic changes in the peripheral blood T-lymphocytes of patients with arthritis associated with ixodes tick-borne borreliosis in the northern regions of Siberia

The authors have previously conducted studies that demonstrate the increased level of cytogenetic disturbances in patients with Ixodes tick-borne borreliosis (ITB). The severity of arthritis associated with ITB (AITB) is also ascertained to depend on whether the patient has certain HLA-DRB1 alleles. Objective: to assess the association between HLA-DRB1 gene polymorphism and cytogenetic changes in the peripheral blood T lymphocytes of patients with AITB. Subjects and methods. 146 patients with AITB, 100 clinically healthy convalescents with ITB (CITB), and a control group of 98 healthy blood donors (HBDs) without a history of tick-borne infections were examined using cytogenetic (micronucleus analysis of cytokinesis-blocked peripheral blood T lymphocytes) and molecular genetic (PCR analysis of HLA-DRB1 gene polymorphism) methods. Results and discussion. The frequency of cytokinesis-blocked lymphocytes with micronuclei in the AITB group was significantly higher than that in the CITB and HBD groups (p0.05). The highest levels of lymphocytes with micronuclei were observed in AITB patients with the DRB1*17(03), *01, and *04 alleles as compared to those in the CITB and HBD groups (p0.05). Thus, the patients with AITB had the highest frequency of cytogenetic disorders with the exception of individuals with the DRB1*10 allele.