title: Tumor necrosis factor gene variation predicts hippocampus volume in healthy individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α have been implicated in neurodegeneration relevant to various neuropsychiatric disorders. Little is known about the genetic predisposition to neurodegenerative properties of cytokine genes on brain function and on hippocampus (HC) function in particular. In this study we investigate the neurodegenerative role of TNF polymorphisms on brain morphology in healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Voxel-based morphometry was used in a large sample of healthy individuals (n = 303) to analyze the associations between genetic variants of TNF (rs1800629; rs361525) and brain morphology (gray matter concentration).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a region of interest analysis of the HC, for rs1800629, we observed a strong genotype effect on bilateral HC gray matter concentration. Carriers of one or two A-alleles had significantly smaller volumes compared with GG-homozygotes. For rs361525, a similar effect was observed at almost the same location, with the A-allele resulting in smaller HC volumes compared with GG homozygotes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest a neurodegenerative role of the A-alleles of the TNF single nucleotide polymorphisms rs1800629 (-308G/A) and rs361525 (-238G/A) on hippocampal volumes in healthy individuals. Future imaging studies on the role of these single nucleotide polymorphisms in psychiatric populations of diseases with neurodegenerative components are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Bernhard T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Baune
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grotegerd
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suslow
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ohrmann
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arolt
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heindel
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domschke
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schöning
authors.forename: Astrid Veronika
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sehlmeyer
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kugel
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dannlowski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha