title: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) gene polymorphism and expression in pre-eclampsia.
abstract: Pre-eclampsia is an endothelial disorder and TNF-alpha has fundamental effects on endothelial cells by several means, including altering the balance between oxidant and anti-oxidant, changing the pattern of prostaglandin production and affecting expression of several cell surface components. To determine whether TNF-alpha mRNA expression is increased in pre-eclamptic patients, leucocytes from pre-eclamptic patients, normal pregnant women and normal non-pregnant women were studied for TNF-alpha expression using a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Using a model of 373A ABI Sequencer, TNF-alpha gene polymorphism was also analysed by GENESCAN and Genotyper software in order to explain the mechanism of abnormal TNF-alpha expression. Our results show that TNF-alpha mRNA expression is significantly elevated in pre-eclamptic patients compared with the other two control groups. The high expression of TNF-alpha may be associated with the TNF1 allele, whose frequency is markedly increased in pre-eclamptic patients. These observations are consistent with a major role for TNF-alpha in mediating endothelial disturbances, and suggest a key role for TNF-alpha in the development of pre-eclampsia.
authors.affiliation: The William Harvey Research Institute, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, University of London, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.lastname: R Wilson
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: McKillop
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha