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Increased frequency of the tumor necrosis factor‐α‐308 a allele in adults with human immunodeficiency virus dementia
Author(s) -
Quasney Michael W.,
Zhang Qing,
Sargent Susie,
Mynatt Margaret,
Glass Jonathan,
McArthur Justin
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.1284
Subject(s) - dementia , allele , immunology , cytokine , disease , tumor necrosis factor alpha , genetic predisposition , population , locus (genetics) , medicine , allele frequency , gene , biology , genetics , environmental health
Genetic polymorphisms in the regulatory regions of various cytokine genes influence the amount of cytokine produced in response to inflammatory stimuli. To determine whether such polymorphisms might play a role in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia, a disease process in which tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α is believed to play a role, we analyzed HIV‐infected adults with and without dementia and control populations for a polymorphic site located in the promoter region of the gene coding for TNF‐α. The presence of the A allele at the TNF‐α‐308 site was overrepresented among adults with HIV dementia compared to those without dementia (0.28 versus 0.07; OR 5.5; 95% CI 1.8–17.0) and a healthy control population (0.28 versus 0.11). The increased frequency of the A allele in HIV‐infected adults with dementia suggests that this locus may play a role in the pathophysiology of dementia and suggests a genetic predisposition for the development of HIV dementia.