Immune Response Genes in the Post-Q-fever Fatigue Syndrome, Q Fever Endocarditis and Uncomplicated Acute Primary Q Fever

Background: The influence of immune response gene variations on the development of chronic complications of Q fever is presently unclear.

Aim: To compare the frequencies of allelic polymorphisms in immune response genes in different Q fever patient groups.

Design: Genetic association study.

Methods: We measured the frequencies of immune response gene variants in: (i) an expanded group of 31 post-Q-fever fatigue patients (QFS); (ii) 22 Q fever endocarditis patients (QFE); and (iii) 22 patients who made an uncomplicated recovery from their initial attack of primary acute Q fever, comparing them with various standard control panels from the general population.

Results: There were significant differences between the three Q fever groups. QFS patients differed from both QFE and uncomplicated patients and controls in the frequency of carriage of HLA-DRB1*11 and of the 2/2 genotype of the interferon-gamma intron1 microsatellite. Carriage of the HLA DRB1*11 allele was associated with reduced interferon-gamma and IL-2 responses from PBMC stimulated with ligand in short-term culture. QFE showed differences in the IL-10 promoter microsatellites R and G and had higher frequencies of the TNF-alpha receptor II 196R polymorphism. Q fever patients who had made an uncomplicated recovery differed from those with QFS or QFE, but were not significantly different in allelic frequencies to the control panels.

Discussion: These immunogenetic differences support the concept of different immune states in chronic Q fever, determined by genetic variations in host immune responses, rather than by solely properties of Coxiella burnetii.