Tumor necrosis factor-alpha TNF-α) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is
involved in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis. The current study was
designed to examine the association between TNF-α level and TNF-α gene
polymorphisms in Multiple Sclerosis of Iraqi patients. Blood samples were
collected from fifty Iraqi patients who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis (20
men and 30 women) with ages ranging between 23-54 years, and 50 healthy
volunteers as a control group. The serum level of TNF-α was detected by
using an Enzyme-Linked Immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), and TNF-α-308
gene polymorphism was assessed by TaqMan Real-time Polymerase Chain
Reaction (Taq-RT-PCR). The results of the estimation of TNF-α level
showed high elevation in the patients’ group (4.88 ± 0.17 pg/ml) with a high
significance difference (P≤0.01) as compared with the control group (2.96 ±
0.09 pg/ml). While detection of TNF-α-308 polymorphism in MS patients
revealed that the wild genotype G/G was 3 (6.00%), heterogeneous genotype
GA was 15 (30.00%). Homogeneous genotype AA was 32 (46.00%), while
G allele frequency was 0.21 and A allele was 0.79 with significant
difference (P≤ 0.005) and even as in control G/G genotype was 47 (94 %),
GA genotype was 3 (6.00%), AA genotype was 0 (0.00%), G allele
frequency was 0.97. A allele was 0.03 with significant difference (P≤ 0.01).
The result revealed a significant difference between TNF-α-308 genotype
and TNFα serum level in MS patients and control.
Keywords: TNF-α-308, MS, ELISA, Taq-PCR.