Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Production by Oral Leukocytes: Influence of Tumor Necrosis Factor Genotype

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Abstract
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a proinflammatory cytokine that is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. TNF-α production is regulated by many factors, including certain alleles of TNF gene polymorphisms. In the present study, TNF genotypes of 3 bi-allelic polymorphisms were determined in 32 Caucasian patients with adult periodontitis and 32 orally-healthy matched controls, and correlated with TNF-α production by oral polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). No differences in distribution of TNF alleles of the −238, −308, or +252 gene polymorphisms were observed between patients and controls or between patients with different disease severity. However, the level of TNF-α production by oral PMN correlated with the TNF-α−308 genotype in patients with adult periodontitis, with increased production found in patients with the T1,2 genotype (t-test; P = 0.037). When cytokine production was examined in patients according to disease severity, an association between the T1,2 genotype and increased production was observed only in patients with advanced disease (t-test; P = 0.05). These findings suggest that further studies are warranted to determine if the TNF genotype is a risk factor for severity of disease in adult periodontitis. J Periodontol 1998;69:428–433.