Cytokine polymorphisms play a role in susceptibility to ultraviolet B-induced modulation of immune responses after hepatitis B vaccination

Cytokine polymorphisms play a role in susceptibility to ultraviolet B-induced modulation of immune responses after hepatitis B vaccination. Sleijffers A, Yucesoy B, Kashon M, Garssen J, De Gruijl FR, Boland GJ, Van Hattum J, Luster MI, Van Loveren H. National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Annemarie.Sleijffers@rivm.nl UVB exposure can alter immune responses in experimental animals and humans. In an earlier human volunteer study, we demonstrated that hepatitis B-specific humoral and cellular immunity after vaccination on average were not significantly affected by UVB exposure. However, it is known that individuals differ in their susceptibility to UVB-induced immunomodulation, and it was hypothesized that polymorphisms in specific cytokines may play a role in this susceptibility. In this respect, we previously demonstrated that immune responses after hepatitis B vaccination are influenced by the minor allelic variant of IL-1 beta in the general population. For all volunteers, single nucleotide polymorphisms were determined for the following UV response-related cytokines: IL-1 receptor antagonist (+2018), IL-1 alpha (+4845), IL-1 beta (+3953), TNF-alpha (-308), and TNF-alpha (-238). Exposure to UVB significantly suppressed Ab responses to hepatitis B in individuals with the minor variant for the IL-1 beta polymorphism. Increased minimal erythema dose values (just perceptible), which resulted in higher absolute UVB exposures, were observed in the same individuals. There were no associations observed between UVB-induced immunomodulation and the other cytokine polymorphisms examined. This study indicates that individual susceptibility to UVB radiation needs to be considered when studying the effects of UVB in human