Investigation of methylation status of interleukin-16 and autoimmune regulator gene promoter regions in Behçet's disease

This is the first study to evaluate the methylation status of both <i>AIRE</i> and <i>IL-16</i> genes in BD. Our study results suggest that the promoter region of the <i>AIRE</i> gene is unmethylated in BD and that <i>AIRE</i> gene is activated in BD and produces autoimmune regulatory proteins that eliminate autoreactive T cells, suggesting a tendency toward autoimmunity in BD. These findings also suggest that IL-16, which is involved in the pathogenesis of many rheumatic diseases, does not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of BD.