title: Association of tumour necrosis factor alpha -308 gene polymorphism with primary open-angle glaucoma in Chinese.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Genetic factors are known to play a role in the aetiology of glaucoma, and in particular the role of the immune system is highly suspected. In this study, we evaluated the association between tumour necrosis factor alpha -308 (TNF alpha -308) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of sixty POAG patients and 103 healthy volunteers as control group were enrolled in this case-controlled study. Furthermore, we used polymerase chain reaction based analysis to resolve the TNF alpha -308 polymorphism. Statistical analysis for the relative risk of TNF alpha -308 polymorphism was compared by the chi(2) test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant differences in the distribution of the polymorphism between the POAG patients and the control subjects (P = 0.00016; P < 0.05) and it was found that the A(-308) allele occurred more frequently in POAG patients (odds ratio: 2.72; 95% confidence interval: 1.66-4.45).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study concluded that the distribution of TNF alpha -308 was significantly higher in the POAG patients than in the control group. Therefore, the A(-308) allele appears to be associated with POAG and, therefore, could be used as a genetic marker for disease mapping. POAG is a complex disease, and a single gene could not be responsible. Understanding the role of genetic polymorphisms, like TNF alpha, could be a prediction of the disease and useful for developing new treatments for POAG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthamology, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: F-J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: W-C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y-R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S-W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha