Gene polymorphisms in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis from Mozambique

Several host and environmental factors contribute to tuberculosis outcome, interestingly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes have been evaluated in populations with different ethnicities and TB infection. In the present study we focused on SNPs in cytokine and inflammatory mediator genes: tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -308G>A (rs1800629), interleukin-10 (IL10) -819C>T (rs1800871), interferon-gamma (IFNG) +874T>A (rs2430561), and leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H) rs1978331, rs17525495 and rs2660898 in a case-control study involving 102 pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 456 controls from Mozambique. LTA4H, IL10 and IFNG SNPs showed no associations with pulmonary tuberculosis. However, distribution of the TNF -308A allele, genotype and carrier frequencies showed a significant risk association with tuberculosis that was maintained after adjustment for non-genetic variables and Bonferroni correction (AA genotype, OR = 1.9, p Bonf < 0.001; A allele OR = 2.9, p Bonf = 0.005 and GA/AA carrier OR = 2.6, p Bonf = 0.035). Interestingly, this association has not been reported in a sub-Saharan African population before. Our results suggest a role of -308 TNF polymorphism and tuberculosis susceptibility.