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Polymorphisms in or near tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-gene do not determine levels of endotoxin-induced TNF production

Genes & Immunity volume 3, pages 25–29 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Innate differences in tumour necrosis factor (TNF) production have been associated with susceptibility for and outcome of inflammatory diseases. Several studies have tried to identify whether polymorphisms in or near the TNF gene or other markers on the short arm of chromosome 6 (6p21) are related to differences in TNF production. Data on these associations are conflicting. Therefore, we conducted a study among 129 healthy individuals in which TNF production was determined upon stimulation with endotoxin in whole blood cultures. TNFa microsatellite, TNF single nucleotide polymorphisms at position +489, −238, −308 and −376 typing was performed. The data revealed that alleles of TNFa microsatellite and carriership of TNF polymorphisms were not related to TNF production. We conclude that the genes determing the differences in endotoxin-induced TNF production have not been yet identified.

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Acknowledgements

We thank AR van der Slik for technical assistance, MW van der Linden for providing access to his data, and the Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion for typing HLA-haplotypes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands

    B A de Jong

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands

    R G J Westendorp

  3. Department of Rheumatology, LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands

    A M Bakker & T W J Huizinga

Authors
  1. B A de Jong
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  2. R G J Westendorp
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  3. A M Bakker
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  4. T W J Huizinga
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T W J Huizinga.

Additional information

This work is supported by grant 96–229 MS from the Dutch Society for Support of Research into Multiple Sclerosis.

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de Jong, B., Westendorp, R., Bakker, A. et al. Polymorphisms in or near tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-gene do not determine levels of endotoxin-induced TNF production. Genes Immun 3, 25–29 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6363824

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