CD209-336A/G promotor polymorphism and its clinical associations in sickle cell disease Egyptian Pediatric patients

Objectives: To detect the frequency of CD209 A>G polymorphism in sickle cell disease (SCD) Egyptian patients and to evaluate the use of CD209 A>G polymorphism as a genetic predictor of SCD clinical heterogeneity. Methods: A total of 100 Egyptian children with SCD and 100 Egyptian controls were tested for CD209 A>G polymorphism and were followed up prospectively between June 2012 and December 2014. Results: Comparison of CD209 A>G polymorphism among cases and controls did not show statistically significant difference (p =.742). In addition, comparison of the allelic frequency did not show statistically significant difference (p =.738). Infections occurred more frequently among the heterozygous genotype (AG; 60.5%) and homozygous genotype (GG; 75%) patients than among the wild (AA) genotype (24.1%; p <.001). The use of hydroxyurea treatment was significantly higher among the wild (AA) genotype (47%) than the heterozygous (AG; 21%) and homozygous (GG; 5%) genotypes (p =.003). Conclusion: We found no significant difference between our population of Egyptian SCD cases and controls regarding CD209 A>G polymorphism. Infections occurred more frequently among the heterozygous genotype (AG) and homozygous genotype (GG) patients.