Genetic association between TNF-α G-308A and osteoarthritis in Asians: A case-control study and meta-analysis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an important health issue in elderly people. Many studies have suggested that genetic factors are important risk factors for OA, of which tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is one of the most examined genes. Moreover, several studies have investigated the relationship between TNF-α G-308A polymorphisms and OA risk, but consistent results have not been obtained.

This study examines the association between TNF-α G-308A polymorphisms and knee OA. Moreover, meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) was used to determine whether this is a susceptibility gene for knee OA.

Between 2015 and 2019, 591 knee OA cases and 536 healthy controls were recruited. The Kellgren-Lawrence grading system was used to identify the knee OA cases. A meta-analysis was conducted including related studies published until 2020 from PubMed, Embase, and previous meta-analysis to improve the evidence level of the current study. The results were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) to evaluate the effect of this polymorphism on knee OA risk. The TSA was used to estimate the sample sizes required in this issue.

A nonsignificant association was found between the AA genotype and knee OA [adjusted OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.62-1.15) in the recessive model] in the present case-control study, and analysis of other genetic models showed a similar trend. After adding the critical case-control samples for Asians, the TNF-α G-308A, AA genotype exhibited 2.57 times more risk of developing arthritis when compared with the GG + GA genotype (95% CI, 1.56-4.23), and the cumulative samples for TSA (n = 2182) were sufficient to obtain a definite conclusion.

The results of this meta-analysis revealed that the TNF-α G-308A, AA genotype is a susceptible genotype for OA in the Asian population. This study integrated all current evidence to arrive at this conclusion, suggesting that future studies on Asians are not required.