Increased expression of TNFA gene in Mexican patients with acute myocardial infarction and its relationship with-857 C>T and-863 C>A polymorphisms

Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) has the highest mortality rates in emergency services. In AMI pathophysiology, oxidative, inflammatory, metabolic, and thrombotic factors are involved. TNFA is a candidate gene for the disease, due to its involvement in the early stage of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization. The objective of this investigation was to study the association of rs1799724 (-857 C>T) and rs1800630 (-863 C>A) TNFA polymorphisms with AMI and the polymorphisms' effect on gene expression. The case-control study included 206 control subjects and 285 patients diagnosed with AMI from Western Mexico. Genetic polymorphisms were identified by the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Longitude Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. TNFA gene expression was measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR) using TaqMan (R) UPL probes. In terms of results, we observed the TNFA gene overexpressed in patients with AMI (3.2 times more than in controls). The-857 C/C genotype carriers exhibited higher TNFA gene expression in the control group. The effect of -863 C>A polymorphism on TNFA gene expression was in contrast between the control group and in patients with AMI. In conclusion, these polymorphisms do not contribute to the risk of AMI in Western Mexico population; however, the -863 C>A effect on the transcriptional activity of TNFA in patients with AMI merits further investigation.