Aim:

To describe the association of variations in cytokine genes that participate in the inflammatory process with the susceptibility and clinical severity of diseases.

Methods:

A documentary study was carried out with a review of the scientific literature of the database: Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, Scielo, PLOS, Hinari, Redalyc, Dialnet, Taylor, ProQuest. Eighty-four references were reviewed that included research articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyzes, using the terms ''Variants'', ''Single Nucleotide Variation'', ''Proinflammatory cytokines'', ''Anti-inflammatory cytokines'', ''Interleukins'', ''Tumor Necrosis Factor'', ''genetic susceptibility'', ''diseases'', pathologies''.

Results:

The evidence indicates that Single Nucleotide Variants are detected mainly in promoter regions of genes that code for cytokines that regulate inflammatory processes such as: IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL -17, IL-18, IL-22 and tumoral necrosis factor.

Conclusions:

The expression and differential production of these cytokines play a role in the pathogenesis and predisposition to diseases, especially metabolic, malignant, autoimmune, and infectious. A differential effect of variants according to ethnic characteristics is also observed, which turns out to be an effective tool to be used in preventive medicine.