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Tumour necrosis factor (‐308A) polymorphism in pre‐eclampsia: Meta‐analysis of 16 case–control studies
Author(s) -
BOMBELL Sarah,
McGUIRE William
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.2008.00924.x
Subject(s) - meta analysis , confidence interval , allele , eclampsia , single nucleotide polymorphism , medicine , relative risk , genetic association , genetic model , bioinformatics , genotype , genetics , pregnancy , biology , gene
Background: The guanine to adenine transition at position ‐308 nucleotides in the tumour necrosis factor promoter region (TNF ‐308A) is a putative genetic risk factor for pre‐eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E). However, association studies have reported conflicting findings and have generally been underpowered to exclude modest effect sizes. Aim: To assess and synthesise the available evidence for the association of the TNF (‐308A) polymorphism with PE/E. Methods: Systematic review and random effects meta‐analysis of genetic association studies. Results: Sixteen eligible case–control studies in which a total of 1919 patients with PE/E and 2374 controls participated were identified. The studies were generally small but of reasonable methodological quality. Random effects meta‐analysis improved the precision of the estimate of effect size but did not detect a statistically significant association: pooled relative risk 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.86 to 1.20). Conclusions: The available data are not consistent with more than a very modest association between the TNF (‐308A) allele and PE/E. Screening pregnant women for this allele in order to guide antenatal surveillance or treatment is unwarranted. Future research efforts should focus on alternative candidate genes.