title: The TNF-α -308 polymorphism may affect the severity of Crohn's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this project was to analyze the association between Crohn's disease, its clinical features, and the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) -308 polymorphism.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a case-control and cross-sectional study that enrolled 91 patients with Crohn's disease and 91 controls. Patients with Crohn's disease were characterized according to the Montreal Classification, along with their clinical and surgical treatment history. Analysis of the TNF-α -308 polymorphism was performed using a commercial kit. A stratified analysis was applied using an OR (odds ratio) with a 95% confidence interval. The chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were utilized for analysis of the association between the polymorphism and the clinical features of Crohn's disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The low producer predicted phenotype was present in 76.9% of Crohn's disease cases and 75.8% of controls (OR 0.94 [0.45-1.97]). The TNF2 allele and the high producer predicted phenotype were more frequent among patients with Crohn's disease penetrating behavior (p = 0.004). The TNF2 allele and the high producer predicted phenotype were also associated with a history of colectomy (p = 0.02), and the TNF2 allele was associated with small bowel resection (p = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The TNF-α -308 polymorphism appears to affect the severity of the disease. However, TNF-α -308 polymorphism does not appear to be important for the susceptibility in the development of Crohn's disease.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Bahia/Prof. Edgard Santos University Hospital - Gastroenterology, Salvador/BA, Brazil. genoile@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Genoile
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: Maria Teresita
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bendicho
authors.forename: Tamara Celi
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: Lidiane Bianca Dos
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lemaire
authors.forename: Andre Castro
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lyra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha