Is there an association between TNFR2 M196R polymorphism and acne vulgaris in Egyptian patients?

Background acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit. tumor necrosis factor α (tnfα) is one of the important mediators of inflammation in acne. the receptor activating polymorphism tnfr2 m196r has been associated with disease susceptibility and severity in the han chinese population. objective to determine the frequency of tnfr2 m196r polymorphism in egyptian acne patients and its possible relation to acne predisposition and severity. patients and methods the frequency of occurrence of tnfr2 m196r polymorphism was determined among 30 egyptian acne patients with different degrees of severity using real-time pcr. it was compared with the frequency among 20 matched healthy controls. results no significant difference between cases and controls was found regarding the occurrence of this polymorphism. further, acne severity was not related to the frequency of the studied polymorphism, although it tended to be more severe in carriers of the polymorphism. conclusion tnfr2 m196r polymorphism was not a risk factor for acne development or severity in this sample from the egyptian population. however; it may have an influence on its severity.