Toxikologie: Open Access

Abstrakt

Lack of Association of Paraoxonase 1 Promoter Polymorphisms with Gulf War Illness

Mike Mackness and Bharti Mackness

Low serum PON1 levels are associated with Gulf War Illness (GWI). We sought to investigate the role of PON1 promoter polymorphisms in defining PON1 levels in GWI. There were no differences in the distribution of the PON1 -108 or PON1 -909 genotypes between the Gulf War Veterans (GWV) and the controls; however, PON1 activity and concentration were significantly lower in the GWV. In the control population, PON1 activity was significantly different between the PON1 -108 genotypes in the order CC>TC>TT (P<0.001) and in the PON1 -909 genotypes in the order GG>GC>CC (P<0.001). However, in the GWV, such activity differences between genotypes were not evident. In the GWV PON1 activity was significantly lower in all the PON1 -108 and -909 genotypes compared to controls. There were no differences in PON1 concentration between any of the PON1 -108 or -909 genotypes in either population, however, the concentration was lower in all genotypes in the Veterans compared to the controls. Low serum PON1 levels appear to be related to symptoms of GWI independent of PON1 promoter and coding region polymorphisms. More studies with larger cohorts are required to define a role for PON1 in GWI.