Tumor necrosis factor-alpha polymorphism at position -238 in preeclampsia

• Published in: Iranian red crescent medical journal 2014-01, Vol.16 (1), p.e11195-e11195
• Main Authors: Naderi, Mohammad, Yaghootkar, Hanieh, Tara, Fatemeh, Tavakkol Afshari, Jalil, Farid Hosseini, Reza, Ghayour Mobarhan, Majid, Shapouri Moghadam, Abbas, Mirteimouri, Masoumeh, Tara, Seyedeh Maryam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2074-1804; 2074-1812
• DOI: 10.5812/ircmj.11195

Preeclampsia is the most common serious disorder during pregnancy and studies show several immune-related processes in its pathophysiology. The role of cytokines and their expression remains controversial in this field. One of the cytokines of interest in recent studies has been TNF-α, which has been shown to have a higher level in maternal plasma of preeclamptic women. This study was designed to evaluate the role of TNF-α polymorphism at position -238 in the risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy. One hundred fifty three preeclamptic cases and 140 healthy pregnant women were retrieved from two major hospitals of Mashhad, Iran. Methods a case-control study were designed. Anyone with a history of inflammatory disease, hypertension, or chronic kidney disease was excluded. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. Both groups were genotyped for the polymorphism of the TNF-α gene at position -238 by the RFLP method with Ava II enzyme. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared using one-way ANOVA and the Fisher's exact test. There were significant differences between the two groups in TNF-α genotype at position -238 (P < 0.001). In the preeclamptic group, the frequency of the AA genotype was higher (P < 0.001) and the frequency of the GG genotype was lower (P < 0.001). The overall prevalence of the A allele at position -238 was higher in preeclamptic cases (P < 0.001). In this study group, TNF-α -238 polymorphism was shown to be different in preeclamptic and non-preeclamptic pregnant women. The AA genotype and the A allele may carry an increased risk for developing of preeclampsia.