title: Lack of association between the promoter polymorphisms at positions -308 and -238 of the tumor necrosis factor alpha gene and psoriasis vulgaris in Japanese patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psoriasis features an increased level and activity of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The TNF-alpha gene has single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at positions -308 (-308G>A) and -238 (-238G>A) in the promoter region, and the -238G>A SNP has been reported to be associated with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and psoriatic arthritis in Caucasians.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether these SNPs are associated with susceptibility to PV in Japanese patients, we investigated the genotype and allele frequencies at each SNP in Japanese PV patients and in controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 163 PV patients and 96 healthy individuals. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant association between the genotypes or alleles of these SNPs and susceptibility to PV was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These SNPs themselves are not associated with susceptibility to PV in the Japanese.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. ytsun-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsunemi
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishibu
authors.forename: Hidehisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.forename: Noritaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oyama
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Hideshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Torii
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komine
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asahina
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamaki
mesh_terms: D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha