Strong association between the -308 TNF promoter polymorphism and allergic rhinitis in pakistani patients

Background: allergic rhinitis (ar) is a common complex allergic inflammatory disorder. the tumor necrosis factor (tnf) α polymorphism g-308a is present in the promoter region of the gene and considered to be important due to its role in different allergic diseases. objectives: we aimed to identify genetic associations between this polymorphism and ar in patients of pakistani origin. methods: we analyzed the distribution of g-308a in 153 unrelated ar patients and 116 unrelated healthy controls. samples were genotyped for g-308a using restriction fragment length polymorphism. results: the tnf -308a allele (tnf2) was significantly more frequent in patients with ar (37%) than in controls (16%,p<.001; χ2=32.15). genotype distribution was also significantly different between patients and controls (p<.001; χ2=40.81). the tnf2 homozygous genotype and tnf1/2 heterozygous genotype were significantly more common in ar patients (tnf2,12%; tnf1/2,49%) than in controls (tnf2,4%; tnf1/2,23%),whereas the normal tnf1 homozygous genotype was more frequent in controls (73%) than in patients (39%). conclusion: our results suggest a strong association between the promoter polymorphism of tnf-α and ar in pakistani cohorts. © 2010 esmon publicidad.