The influence of tumor necrosis factor microsatellite polymorphisms on patient survival following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

AIM: To investigate the influence of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) microsatellite polymorphisms on patient survival following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. METHODS: We analyzed TNFa, TNFb, and TNFd microsatellites among 100 patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donor at the Internal Clinic of the University Hospital Center Zagreb in the period 2001-2009. The analysis was performed using polymerase chain reaction amplification and electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel in an automated sequencer. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in patient survival with respect to the allele length at a given microsatellite. However, a significantly lower survival rate was noticed among patients who were positive for TNFa8 allele (P < 0.001) and a significantly higher survival rate among those who were positive for TNFa10 allele (P = 0.0220). CONCLUSION: These results for the first time suggest an influence of TNFa microsatellite on patient survival following HSCT and indicate a need for further studies of this microsatellite.