Association of tumour necrosis factor‐alpha ‐308 G/A polymorphism with primary open‐angle glaucoma

Abstract

Background: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) is an important proinflammatory cytokine driving axonal degeneration and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in glaucoma. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of TNF-a -308 G/A and -238 G/A polymorphisms with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).

TNF-α -308 A/G and -238 A/G polymorphisms and susceptibility to glaucoma: a meta-analysis

“…Furthermore, the TNF-α -308 A/G and -238 A/G polymorphisms are associated with several autoimmune disorders (Lee et al, 2006a(Lee et al, , 2007(Lee et al, , 2012. However, studies of the associations between these two polymorphisms and glaucoma have reported conflicting results (Lin et al, 2003;Funayama et al, 2004;Tekeli et al, 2008;Khan et al, 2009;Mossböck et al, 2006Mossböck et al, , 2009Razeghinejad et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2010;Bozkurt et al, 2012;Buentello-Volante et al, 2013), which is not altogether surprising. Persistent difficulties regarding robust and replicable results in genetic association studies are almost certainly attributable to small contributions by genetic phenomena.…”

“…However, published results are inconsistent (Wilson et al, 1997). Several studies have examined the potential contributions made by TNF-α promoter polymorphisms to glaucoma susceptibility (Lin et al, 2003;Funayama et al, 2004;Tekeli et al, 2008;Khan et al, 2009;Mossböck et al, 2006Mossböck et al, , 2009Razeghinejad et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2010;Bozkurt et al, 2012;Buentello-Volante et al, 2013), but the findings of these studies are mixed, probably owing to small sample sizes and low statistical power.…”

“…First, genetic heterogeneity for glaucoma may exist in different populations. In fact, genetic association studies on glaucoma have demonstrated genetic heterogeneity (Lin et al, 2003;Funayama et al, 2004;Tekeli et al, 2008;Khan et al, 2009;Mossböck et al, 2006Mossböck et al, , 2009Razeghinejad et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2010;Bozkurt et al, 2012;Buentello-Volante et al, 2013). Second, clinical heterogeneities and differences between patient populations may be responsible.…”

“…One study was excluded because it contained other polymorphism data (Wang et al, 2012). Thus, a total of ten studies met our inclusion criteria (Lin et al, 2003;Funayama et al, 2004;Tekeli et al, 2008;Khan et al, 2009;Mossböck et al, 2006Mossböck et al, , 2009Razeghinejad et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2010;Bozkurt et al, 2012;Buentello-Volante et al, 2013) (Figure 1). One of the eight eligible studies contained data from three different glaucoma groups, and was therefore treated independently in the meta-analysis of subtypes of glaucoma (Razeghinejad et al, 2009).…”

“…Seventy studies were identified using electronic and manual searches, and 11 of these were selected for full-text review based on title and abstract details (Lin et al, 2003;Funayama et al, 2004;Tekeli et al, 2008;Khan et al, 2009;Mossböck et al, 2006Mossböck et al, , 2009Razeghinejad et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2010;Bozkurt et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2012;BuentelloVolante et al, 2013). One study was excluded because it contained other polymorphism data (Wang et al, 2012).…”