Objective   To determine the possible association of the 3 polymorphisms

IL-17A rs2275913 G-197A

IL-17F rs763780 7488T/C and IL-17F rs766748 6400A/G) in the IL-17 gene with the susceptibility to gastroenteric disease caused by H. pylori in Chinese population.    Methods   A hospital-based casecontrol study was conducted

and 223 unrelated healthy blood donors and 129 chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) patients were recruited from Chongqing. Three polymorphisms were genotyped by TaqMan-MGB-PCR analysis. The associations with the susceptibility to CAG disease were estimated by Logistic regression. The infection of H. pylori level were evaluated by the level of serum anti-Hp-IgG antibody by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the urease of gastric mucosa detected with rapid urease testing (RUT).    Results   There was no significant difference in allele frequencies or genotype distributions of IL-17A G-197A and IL-17F 7488T/C between blood donors and CAG patients (P0.05). However

the IL-17F 6400A/G allele frequencies were significantly higher in CAG patients than those in blood donors (P=0.004). Subjects bearing at least one IL-17F 6400A/G A alleles had an increased susceptibility to CAG diseases compared with those without IL-17F 6400A/G A alleles (Dominant model

P=0.006

OR=2.271

95% CI: 1.259-4.095). There was no significant difference in allele frequencies or genotype distributions of three polymorphisms in the IL-17A and IL-17F gene between the all subjective with H. pylori infection or without.    Conclusion   Our results suggest that the genetic variation at the IL-17F locus affects the susceptibility to CAG in Chinese population and emphasizes the importance of IL-17 in the pathophysiology of gastroenteric disease.