Tumor necrosis factor alpha gene variants do not display allelic imbalance in circulating myeloid cells.

Carriage of the TNF -308 A allele (rs1800629 A) has been associated with increased serum TNF-alpha levels, the development of sepsis syndrome, and fatal outcome, in severely traumatized patients (Menges et al., 2008 [1]). Herein, we analysed the putative allelic imbalance of TNF-alpha release from myeloid cells. Circulating peripheral blood cells from healthy human blood donors (n=104) and monocyte-derived macrophages (n=158) were analysed for their ex vivo capacity of TNF-alpha expression. Our findings indicate that carriage of the TNF -308 A allele is not associated with high TNF-alpha expression in circulating human leucocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages. Other cellular sources, e.g. tissue-resident cells like mast cells and/or tissue specific macrophages might be the cellular source of high TNF-alpha serum levels shortly after trauma.