title: Tumor necrosis factor gene polymorphisms in Turkish patients with sarcoidosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As reported recently, some gene polymorphisms are suspected to determine susceptibility to sarcoidosis and are held responsible for the extent and progression of the disease. Polymorphism at -857 locus of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha gene is considered to be a predisposition factor in sarcoidosis and held responsible for pathogenesis of the disease. We compared these polymorphisms in healthy Turkish control subjects and Turkish patients with sarcoidosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined gene polymorphisms in 90 cases which were histopathologically diagnosed as sarcoidosis and 110 healthy subjects without any history of a chronic disease. TNF-alpha-857 gene polymorphisms were determined using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method after DNA isolation. Genotype distributions of the groups were evaluated by the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genotype distributions were in agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium both in sarcoidosis patients and healthy subjects. TNF-alpha gene (C/T) polymorphism, at position -857, revealed no differences in genotype and allele frequency between patients and control subjects but more relapses and more frequently involvement of three or more organs were found in sarcoidosis patients who have this polymorphism (p<0.05, p<0.01 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  T allele at -857 locus of TNF gene is a marker for more extensive disease in Turkish sarcoidosis patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. drekremcs@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ekrem Cengiz
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Seyhan
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cetinkaya
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altin
authors.forename: Zeki
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gunluoglu
authors.forename: Adalet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koksal
authors.forename: Halim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Issever
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha