%0 Journal Article %A B Resch %A A Radinger %A C Mannhalter %A A Binder %A J Haas %A W D Müller %T Interleukin-6 G(−174)C polymorphism is associated with mental retardation in cystic periventricular leucomalacia in preterm infants %D 2009 %R 10.1136/adc.2008.140244 %J Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition %P F304-F306 %V 94 %N 4 %X Objective: The fetal inflammatory response syndrome involving proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been associated with cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL). We evaluated whether the development of cPVL is associated with the IL-6 G(−174)C polymorphism.Methods: 52 children with cPVL were compared to 46 preterm and 395 term controls using retrospective cohort analysis. IL-6 genotyping was performed using an allele specific polymerase chain reaction technique.Results: IL-6 G(−174)C polymorphisms did not differ between groups, but an association between mental retardation and the IL-6 C/C (78%) and G/C (43%) genotypes compared to the G/G (25%) genotype was found (p = 0.003 and 0.043, respectively; RR 3.11 (95% CI 1.54 to 6.29) and 1.79 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.92), respectively).Conclusions: The IL-6 (−174) C/C and G/C genotypes were associated with mental retardation in cPVL and seem to modify the severity of perinatal brain injury. %U https://fn.bmj.com/content/fetalneonatal/94/4/F304.full.pdf