The Association of TNFα -308 Polymorphism and TNFα serum level in a sample of Multiple Sclerosis Iraqi patients

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha TNF-α) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is involved in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis. The current study was designed to examine the association between TNF-α level and TNF-α gene polymorphisms in Multiple Sclerosis of Iraqi patients. Blood samples were collected from fifty Iraqi patients who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis (20 men and 30 women) with ages ranging between 23-54 years, and 50 healthy volunteers as a control group. The serum level of TNF-α was detected by using an Enzyme-Linked Immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), and TNF-α-308 gene polymorphism was assessed by TaqMan Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Taq-RT-PCR). The results of the estimation of TNF-α level showed high elevation in the patients’ group (4.88 ± 0.17 pg/ml) with a high significance difference (P≤0.01) as compared with the control group (2.96 ± 0.09 pg/ml). While detection of TNF-α-308 polymorphism in MS patients revealed that the wild genotype G/G was 3 (6.00%), heterogeneous genotype GA was 15 (30.00%). Homogeneous genotype AA was 32 (46.00%), while G allele frequency was 0.21 and A allele was 0.79 with significant difference (P≤ 0.005) and even as in control G/G genotype was 47 (94 %), GA genotype was 3 (6.00%), AA genotype was 0 (0.00%), G allele frequency was 0.97. A allele was 0.03 with significant difference (P≤ 0.01). The result revealed a significant difference between TNF-α-308 genotype and TNFα serum level in MS patients and control. Keywords: TNF-α-308, MS, ELISA, Taq-PCR.