title: Expression and genetic analysis of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) G-308A polymorphism in sporadic Alzheimer's disease in a Southern China population.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of most common chronic neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was found elevated markedly in the serum and the cerebral spinal fluid of AD patients. And the elevation of TNF-alpha was thought to be associated with the occurrence of AD in China. However, it is still unclear whether the TNF-alpha polymorphism is related to the sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD) in China as well. Hence, in this study, we try to investigate the relationship between TNF-alpha G-308A polymorphism and its susceptibility to SAD in a Southern China population. The polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) was performed to detect the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of TNF-alpha in 112 SAD patients and 121 controls. And the levels of TNF-alpha in serum were measured by radioimmunoassay. The differences of polymorphic distribution and the levels of TNF-alpha in serum between groups were then analyzed, and odds ratio was computed for association analysis. The frequency of A-allele was significantly increased in patients with SAD compared with that of the controls (chi(2)=4.256, P=0.039). A significantly increased risk of SAD was observed in the carriers of A-allele (OR=2.635, 95% CI 1.027-6.763, P<0.01). In parallel, the serum level of TNF-alpha in SAD group was much higher than that in control group (chi(2)=10.21, P=0.0042). And the elevation of serum level of TNF-alpha was closely associated with the risk of SAD (OR=3.542, 95% CI 2.304-8.854, P<0.05) as well. These results suggested that the TNF-alpha gene G-308A polymorphism might be a risk factor for SAD in Southern China. A-allele might play a role in the susceptibility of SAD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510120, PR China.
authors.forename: Lianhong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ruiyan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Longyuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha