title: Lack of association of TNFalpha gene polymorphisms and recurrent pregnancy loss in Caucasian women.
abstract: The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) gene plays an important role in immunology and inflammation. Variant alleles of TNFalpha are associated with altered RNA and serum protein levels in humans. Conflicting results have been obtained regarding the role of TNFalpha during pregnancy and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). This study investigated the relationship between RPL and two polymorphisms in the promoter of the TNFalpha gene (TNFalpha -308 and -863). Genotyping was performed in 168 RPL women and 212 ethnically matched healthy individuals. In addition, we performed analysis of TNFalpha serum protein levels. We demonstrate that neither the polymorphism -308 nor the polymorphism -863 of the TNFalpha gene is associated with RPL in Caucasian women. In addition, we did not find any association between TNFalpha serum levels and the occurrence of RPL in a subset of 36 RPL women and 36 healthy individuals. We conclude that TNFalpha polymorphisms and resting blood TNFalpha levels do not correlate with the propensity to recurrent pregnancy loss in Caucasian women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Freiburg School of Medicine, Freiburg, Germany. pietrowski@frk.ukl.uni-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pietrowski
authors.forename: Herta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bettendorf
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keck
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bürkle
authors.forename: Gertrud
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Unfried
authors.forename: Eva-Katrin
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Riener
authors.forename: Lukas A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hefler
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tempfer
mesh_terms: D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha