Tumor necrosis factor alpha-308 gene polymorphism and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma

PURPOSE: To investigate the possible association between tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)−308 G/A polymorphism and pseudoexfoliation (PEX) glaucoma. METHODS: One hundred and ten Turkish PEX glaucoma patients and 110 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmic examination. TNF-α−308 was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease analysis. RESULTS: We found a high prevalence of the G/G genotype in PEX glaucoma patients (OR=2.88, 95% CI 1.15–7.20). The A polymorphic allele frequency was 3.2% in patients with PEX compared with 8.2% in controls (p=0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that TNF-α−308 G/A genotype is not associated with PEX glaucoma. The −308G/A variant may be a possible protective factor against PEX.