Genetic variations in fetal and maternal tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin 10: is there an association with preterm birth or periventricular leucomalacia?

Objective:the aim of the study was to identify whether tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) (−308) and interleukin (il)-10 (−1082; −819) genotypes were associated with preterm delivery and cystic periventricular leucomalacia (pvl).study design:venous blood, buccal swabs or cord blood were collected from mother/child pairs with infants born at term (200) or preterm (106) in the presence and absence of neonatal pvl and of premature infants with pvl (7). extracted genomic dna served as template for determination of il-10 (−1082), il-10 (−819) and tnf-α (−308) genotypes by allele-specific pcr.result:no significant difference was observed in the frequencies of il-10 (−1082), il-10 (−819) and tnf-α (−308) genotypes in mothers or in children of term versus preterm deliveries with or without pvl.conclusion:maternal and infant il-10 (−1082, −819) and tnf-α (−308) genotypes are not indicative for an increased risk of preterm birth or the development of pvl in premature newborns.