Lack of association with TNF-α-308 promoter polymorphism in patients with vitiligo

• DOI: 10.1007/s00403-006-0664-2
• Publication Date: 2006-04-20T08:57:03Z
• Authors: Ayca Cordan Yazici; M. Emin Erdal; Tamer Irfan Kaya; Guliz Ikizoglu; Kaan Savasoglu; Handan Camdeviren; Umit Tursen
• Keywords: Male; 0301 basic medicine; Genotype; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Vitiligo; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Risk Factors; Case-Control Studies; Humans; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Promoter Regions, Genetic

Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentary disorder of the skin, characterized by incomplete penetrance, multiple susceptibility loci and genetic heterogeneity. An immunologic hypothesis is currently advanced as a possible pathogenesis of vitiligo. The cytokines have an important role in pathogenesis of autoimmunity in which tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a paracrine inhibitor of melanocytes, is especially important. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have been identified in the human TNF gene promoter. The polymorphism at position -308 (TNF-308), which involves substituting G for A and designing the AA genotype, leads to a higher rate of TNF gene transcription than the wild-type GG genotype in in vitro expression studies. It has also been linked to increased susceptibility to several chronic metabolic, degenerative, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we investigated the TNF-alpha-308 SNP in patients with vitiligo. We examined 61 patients with vitiligo. Healthy age-, ethnically- and sex-matched individuals (n = 123) served as controls. Polymerase chain reaction amplification was used for analysis of the polymorphism at position -308 in promoter of TNF-alpha gene. We found that the distribution of TNF-alpha genotypes in vitiligo patients did not differ from that in control subjects (P > 0.05). Moreover, there was no association between TNF-alpha genotypes and types of vitiligo. In conclusion, we suggest that TNF-alpha-308 SNP is not a genetic risk factor for vitiligo susceptibility.