TGF β 1 Expression Related Gene Polymorphism

Leprosy is one of the oldest human infectious diseases. It is a chronic infectious contagious, granulomatous disease caused by intracellular bacillus. Mycobacterium leprae, this chronic granulomatous disease presents symptoms that mainly affected the skin, the nervous system and the reticuloendothelial system, also other systems can be affected, such as the upper respiratory tract, bones and joints, eyes and adrenal glands. TGF- β is a pleiotropic cytokine that employs several functions on different types of cells. The effect of other cytokines may finally modulate the cellular response in the presence of TGF- β, causing a different effect depending on the activation state of the cell involved. In addition, TGF- β promotes the healing of inflamed tissue through the stimulation and regulation of extracellular matrix by fibroblasts, in addition to inducing the proliferation of endothelial cells required for angiogenesis. Thus, TGF- β is able to regulate the expression of other growth factors, increasing their level of activity.