TNF-α, TNF-β and IL-4 gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis

Objective- To investigate the association between tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) G-308A, tumor necrosis factor-beta (TNF-beta) G+252A and interleukin-4 (IL-4) C-590T polymorphisms and susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) development and clinical course of the disease. Methods-Two hundred and seventy patients with MS and 542 sex and ethnic matched controls were enrolled in the present study. An allele-specific oligonucleotide polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the polymorphism at position -308 of the TNF-alpha gene. The genotypes of TNF-beta and IL-4 were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results- Allelic and genotypic frequencies for these polymorphisms were similar in patients with MS and population controls or among different types of the disease. Conclusions- The results of the present study suggest that the three mentioned functional polymorphisms are not likely to cause susceptibility to MS in the Iranian population.