Purpose Genetic factors are known to play a role in the aetiology of glaucoma, and in particular the role of the immune system is highly suspected. In this study, we evaluated the association between tumour necrosis factor alpha -308 (TNF -308) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
Methods A total of sixty POAG patients and 103 healthy volunteers as control group were enrolled in this case-controlled study. Furthermore, we used polymerase chain reaction based analysis to resolve the TNF -308 polymorphism. Statistical analysis for the relative risk of TNF -308 polymorphism was compared by the 2 test.
Results There were significant differences in the distribution of the polymorphism between the POAG patients and the control subjects (P=0.00016; P<0.05) and it was found that the A-308 allele occurred more frequently in POAG patients (odds ratio: 2.72; 95% confidence interval: 1.66–4.45).
Conclusion The results of our study concluded that the distribution of TNF -308 was significantly higher in the POAG patients than in the control group. Therefore, the A-308 allele appears to be associated with POAG and, therefore, could be used as a genetic marker for disease mapping. POAG is a complex disease, and a single gene could not be responsible. Understanding the role of genetic polymorphisms, like TNF , could be a prediction of the disease and useful for developing new treatments for POAG.
