Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 45 5 2016 05 25 644 649 Esmat YAGHOOBI Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Saeed ABEDIAN Dept. of Immunology, Mazandaran University Medical of Sciences, Sari, Iran Omid BABANI Amirkola Children’s Hospital, Amirkola, Babol, Iran Maryam IZAD Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND MS Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran 2016 05 25 2016 05 25 Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by autoreactive T cells against myelin antigens. T-cell immunoglobulin mucin -3 (TIM-3) is a negative regulator glycoprotein expressed by a range of immune cells, including, Th1 cells, activated CD8+ T cells and in a lower level on Th17 cells. A defect in TIM-3 regulation has been shown in multiple sclerosis patients. In humans, several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in the TIM-3 gene and are associated with inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between TIM-3 -574A>C and -1516 C>A SNPs in the promoter region, and susceptibility to MS. Methods: DNA samples from 102 patients and 102 healthy controls were genotyped using RFLP-PCR method. Results: In this case-control study, analysis of the alleles and genotypes revealed a significant higher frequency of C/C and lower frequency of A/C genotypes for -574 locus of TIM-3 gene in MS patients (P=0.0002). We also found that C/C genotype for locus of -1516 increased in MS patients, while A/C genotype decreased (P=0.012). Allele C of -574C/C and -1516 C>A SNPs were also more frequent in MS patients (P=0.036 and 0.0027 respectively). Conclusion: -574 A>C and -1516 C>A SNPs in the promoter region of TIM3 gene may affect the disease susceptibility.   https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/6800 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/6800/5414