Analysis of TNF-α (-308) polymorphism and gingival crevicular fluid TNF-α levels in aggressive and chronic periodontitis: A preliminary report.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the distribution of TNF-α (-308) gene polymorphism among aggressive periodontitis, chronic periodontitis and periodontally healthy individuals and also to investigate whether this polymorphism is associated with gingival crevicular fluid TNF-α levels and periodontal disease severity.

Material And Methods: A total of 93 individuals were enrolled in the study including 38 aggressive periodontitis, 29 chronic periodontitis patients, and 26 healthy controls. Single nucleotide polymorphism at TNF-α (-308) is analyzed by PCR-RFLP method. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were analyzed for TNF-α, using ELISA.

Results: The distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies for TNF-α (-308) were similar among the groups. After stratification of patients with respect to attachment level, aggressive periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4mm was observed to have a higher frequency of TNF-α (-308) allele 2 compared to the chronic periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4mm. No significant differences were found between the TNF-α levels of the different genotypes in spite of an insignificant increase in patient groups carrying TNF-α (-308) allele 2.

Conclusion: The results of this study revealed an association between TNF-α (-308) allele 2 frequency and aggressive periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4mm in the population studied.