Risk of open angle glaucoma due to tumor necrosis factor alpha gene polymorphisms.

Introduction: Axonal degeneration and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in glaucoma is associated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which is an important pro-inflammatory cytokine. The aim of this study was to determine the association between the risk of open angle glaucoma (OAG) in the Egyptian population and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) gene polymorphisms.

Methods: Sixty OAG patients and 26 healthy unrelated controls were used to analyze TNF-α polymorphism G-308A using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).

Results: the GG genotype was found at a higher frequency in the controls than in the patients, and the AA and GA genotypes were associated strongly with OAG.

Conclusion: In this study, we found that the TNF-α polymorphism G-308A was associated significantly with OAG in the Egyptian population. However, there is a need for population-based studies with large numbers of subjects. Also, long-term follow up is required to verify the association between TNF-α polymorphism G-308A and glaucoma susceptibility.