title: Tumour necrosis factor gene polymorphisms and migraine in Greek children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Migraine is considered to be a multifactorial, complex disease. Various genetic and environmental factors contribute to the manifestation of this disease. The aim of this study was to determine whether polymorphisms in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) region are associated with the risk of migraine. We examined the association between 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding regions of TNF-α and TNF-β genes and migraine.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included two groups of children (group A and group B). Group A consisted of 103 unrelated children with typical migraine without aura 5-14 years of age. Group B (control group) consisted of 178 unrelated healthy children. The diagnosis of migraine was, in all patients, made according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD II).
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to our results positive family history was present in 62.2% of patients of group A. No significant differences were found in the frequencies of genotypes or alleles between patients and controls. The non-parametric analyses of variance showed no significant differences in the age at onset between genotype groups of the TNF-α and TNF-β gene polymorphisms. Comparison of genotype frequencies between boys and girls in affected patients and control individuals were not significantly different (p = 0.089, p =0.073 respectively). The distribution of TNF polymorphisms was not associated with the presence of family history of migraine in patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate that TNF-α and TNF-β gene polymorphisms are not a significant risk factor for migraine without aura in Greek children.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Styliani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pappa
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatzistilianou
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouvatsi
authors.forename: Chrysa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pantzartzi
authors.forename: Afroditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakellaropoulou
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pavlou
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mavromichales
authors.forename: Fanni
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Athanassiadou