A variant of position-308 of the tumour necrosis factor alpha gene promoter and the risk of coronary heart disease

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the variability between individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD) is related to the prevalence of TNF-alpha gene promoter -308 variant in un-matched British Caucasian population from East Midlands. Procedures: Genotypes and allele frequencies were determined using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. Genomic DNA prepared from peripheral blood leukocytes of patients (n = 97) and healthy controls (n = 95) demonstrated two alleles TNF*1 (G) and TNF*2 (A). Findings: The genotype distribution in patients was GG, n = 59; GA, n = 36; and AA, n = 2 and in controls was GG, n = 41; GA, n = 40; and AA, n = 14 (P = 0.014). The association analysis demonstrated that TNF*1 allele in patients appears to be associated with greater incidences of CHD (OR 2.15; CI, 1.36-3.39; P = 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that TNF*1 allele (TNF-alpha -308 GG or GA) has a high prevalence among British Caucasian population that correlates with an increased CHD risk.