Tumornecrosis-factor-α 308 GA polymorphism in atherosclerotic patients

The development of the atherosclerosis is a multifactorial process, where the clinical pattern is determined by environmental and genetic factors. Except for the classical risk factors of atherosclerosis (hypertension, lipid-metabolic disorders, diabetes, smoking) the clinical signs can be influenced by the genetic variants (polymorphisms) of the enzymes, which are responsible for the endothelial cell function and for the thrombotic factors. In our examination our aim was to define the TNF-α 308GA polymorphisms in atherosclerotic diabetic, atherosclerotic non-diabetic and healthy patients. We found correlation of the frequency of myocardial infarction and stroke in atherosclerotic diabetic and atherosclerotic non-diabetic patients. We proved that among patients with mutant TNF-α AA genotype the occurrence of cardiovascular events is significantly higher: Mutant AA homozygous genotype: control group 1, 6%, MI group 10,7%, p < 0,005, OR: 8,17 versus Normal GG allele: control group 76,7%, MI group 61,3%. The TNF-α AA genotype can have a clinical importance as a prognostic and therapeutic marker, although further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.