"iDoctor – Medical Blog"

Purpose: Endophthalmitis is a rare but sight-threatening complication of intraocular surgery. [beta]-Defensins are antimicrobial peptides that appear to be important components of the ocular immune response. We propose that variation in defensin genes may alter susceptibility to endophthalmitis.Methods: Post-cataract endophthalmitis patients (n = 28) and post-cataract controls (n = 75) were recruited and DNA samples extracted. The [beta]-defensin 1 gene (DEFB1) was screened for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using bidirectional sequencing. Case[ndash]control statistical assessment was undertaken for both the individual polymorphic loci observed and combined haplotypes using PHASE software.Results: We identified 19 SNPs and observed strong linkage disequilibrium within the gene. We found that the three-SNP haplotype [minus]688C

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