Association between tumor necrosis factor alpha-238G/a polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility: a meta-analysis study

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2012-11, Vol.12 (1), p.328-328, Article 328
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhijiao, Zhu, Hang, Pu, Xudi, Meng, Siying, Zhang, Fan, Xun, Lei, Liu, Qin, Wang, Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Confidence intervals; Ethnicity; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic polymorphisms; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genotype & phenotype; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Meta-analysis; Mycobacterium; Necrosis; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Production capacity; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Public health; Sensitivity analysis; Statistical analysis; Studies; Susceptibility; TNF-α; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis - genetics; Tuberculosis - immunology; Tumor necrosis factor; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - genetics; Tumors
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-12-328

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) plays a key role in the containment of tuberculosis. The relationship between the TNF -238G/A polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility remains inconclusive. A comprehensive meta-analysis was made to provide a more precise estimate of the relationship between them. Multiple search strategies were used. A fixed effect model was takentook to estimate pooled OR with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between the TNF -238G/A polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility. The Chi-squared-based Q-test and I-squaredI2 statistic were calculated to examine heterogeneity. Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test were used to assess publication bias. 9 case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. No significant heterogeneity was demonstrated, and no obvious publication bias was detected among the included studies. The meta-analysis indicated that there was no significant association between the TNF -238G/A polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility (GA+AA versus GG model: OR=1.005, 95% CI: 0.765-1.319; A versus G model: OR=1.000, 95% CI: 0.769-1.300). In the subgroup analyses by ethnicity, types of TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, no significant association were identified. The meta-analysis involving 2723 subjects did not detect any association between the TNF -238G/A polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility.