Tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter -308 A/G polymorphism and rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility: a metaanalysis.
OBJECTIVE
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter -308 A/G polymorphism has been reported to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with inconsistent results. We investigated whether TNF-alpha -308 A/G polymorphism confers susceptibility to RA.


METHODS
We conducted a random effect metaanalysis on the association of genotypes A/A (recessive effect), A/A + A/G (dominant effect), A allele, and A/A vs G/G genotypes of the TNF-alpha -308 polymorphisms with RA overall and within different ethnic populations.


RESULTS
Fourteen studies, 10 of Europeans, 3 of Latin Americans, and one Asian, were included in this metaanalysis. An association between RA and the TNF-alpha -308 A allele was not found in the overall population (OR 1.005, 95% CI 0.715-1.412, p = 0.976). However, stratification by ethnicity indicated that the TNF-alpha A allele was significantly associated with RA in Latin Americans (OR 2.004, 95% CI 1.158-3.467, p = 0.013). Conversely, there was no association detected for the TNF-alpha A allele with RA patients from the European samples (OR 0.911, 95% CI 0.684-1.212, p = 0.520). The OR for the A/A + A/G genotype, the A/A genotypes, and the A/A vs G/G genotypes in samples overall and in each ethnic group showed a similar trend to those for the TNF-alpha A allele.


CONCLUSIONS
This metaanalysis demonstrates that the TNF-alpha -308 A/G polymorphism may represent a significant risk factor for RA in Latin Americans, but not in Europeans.
Lee
Young Ho
YH
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University Medical Center, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. lyhcgh@korea.ac.kr
Ji
Jong Dae
JD
Song
Gwan Gyu
GG
D000483:Alleles; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha