Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) Gene Promoter Polymorphisms in Patients with Chronic HBV and Spontaneously Recovered among Iranian Population

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of present study was to examine whether TNF- alpha gene promoter polymorphisms (−308G/A, −857C/T, −863C/A, −1031T/C) are associated with the clearance of HBV infection in chronic HBV patients and spontaneously recovered subjects. Methods: We investigated −308, −857, −863, −1031 TNF-alpha polymorphisms in 100 patients with chronic HBV infection, 100 subjects who had spontaneously recovered from acute HBV infection, and 100 healthy controls. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood leukocytes by standard phenol-chloroform extraction. The −308G/A, −857C/T, −863A/C, and −1031C/T polymorphisms in the promoter region of TNF-a gene were detected by PCR-RFLP. Results: Our finding have shown that the frequency of −308A, −857C, −863A and −1031C alleles were 0.12, 0.835, 0.21 and 0.245 in chronic HBV patients, respectively; 0.13, 0.775, 0.185 and 0.25 in spontaneous recovered subjects and 0.105, 0.84, 0.13 and 0.16 in healthy controls. As shown in the table below our data suggest no significant difference among chronic HBV patients, spontaneous recovered subjects, and healthy controls considering the four evaluated TNF-alpha promoter polymorphisms (p value > 0.05).Table: Distribution of TNF-Alpha Genotypes in Chronic HBV Patients, Sopontaneously Recovered Subjects and Healthy ControlsConclusions: In contrast to other studies, these findings suggest no association between the TNF-alpha promoter polymorphisms and the development of chronic HBV infection in Iranian population, which probably ethnic differences could lead to different results.