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Published on: November 24, 2014
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha genetic polymorphism may contribute to progression of bovine leukemia virus-infection
Satoru Konnai1, Tatsufumi Usui, Manabu Ikeda
1Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0818, Japan. konnai@vetmed.kokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
In a previous report, we had indicated that in a sheep model, the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha was closely associated with disease progression in sheep experimentally infected with bovine leukemia virus (BLV). However, individual variabilities are observed in these responses in BLV-infected animals. To attempt to identify genetic factors promoting the progression to BLV-induced lymphoma, we endeavored to determine whether there are any polymorphisms in the TNF-alpha gene among 291 individuals and whether this would affect the level of TNF-alpha expression and concomitant progression of BLV-induced disease or increase in the provirus load in the carriers. We found that the frequency of the TNF-alpha -824G allele, which has been associated with low transcription activity of the promoter/predicted enhancer region of the bovine TNF-alpha gene, was higher in individuals with BLV-induced lymphoma than in asymptomatic carrier individuals. In addition, we observed a tendency for increased BLV-provirus load in cattle with TNF-alpha -824G/G homozygote compared to TNF-alpha -824A/A homozygote or TNF-alpha -824A/G. These data suggest that the observed polymorphism in the promoter region of TNF-alpha gene could at least in part contribute to the progression of lymphoma in BLV-infection.
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