ABSTRACT. TNF-α is a potential proinflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis. We investigated a possible association between TNF-α -308G>A polymorphism and liver cirrhosis risk by conducting a meta-analysis. Publications addressing the association between TNF-α -308G>A and liver cirrhosis risk were selected from the Pubmed and Embase databases. Data were extracted from the studies by two independent reviewers; odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated from these data. The meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager Version 5.0.24 and STATA Version 9.2. Eleven studies were retrieved, reporting a total of 1796 liver cirrhosis cases and 2113 healthy controls. A meta-analysis of these 11 studies identified no significant association between TNF-α -308G>A polymorphism and liver cirrhosis risk in all comparisons of G vs A allele; GG vs GA + AA; GG + GA vs AA; GG vs AA; GG vs GA (OR = 1.14, 95%CI = 0.85-1.55, P = 0.38; OR = 1.24, 95%CI = 0.87-1.77, P = 0.24; OR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.62-1.30, P = 0.57; OR = 1.03, 95%CI = 0.56-1.89, P = 0.92; OR = 1.30, 95%CI = 0.90-1.88, P = 0.17; respectively). In conclusion, we found no association between TNF-α -308G>A polymorphism and liver cirrhosis risk, both in Caucasian and Asian populations.

ABSTRACT. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CCVDs) are common and have high rates of morbidity, mortality, and recurrence. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is also known as carboxypeptidase B2 and is encoded by the CPB2 gene; CPB2 polymorphisms have been explored in a variety of studies, but their correlation to the risk of CCVDs remains ambiguous. We examined the hypothesized associations between CPB2 mutations and CCVDs in a general population. We searched, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Science Citation Index, and several Chinese databases without applying any language restrictions. Nine case-control studies were analyzed in the current meta-analysis, and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The pooled ORs indicated that the CPB2 rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of CCVDs in the allele model (all P values < 0.05). A similar result for the CPB2 rs1926447 C>T polymorphism and CCVDs risk was detected in the allele model (P < 0.05). Ethnicity subgroup analysis implied that the rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was more likely to lead to the development of cerebrovascular disease in Asians (all P values < 0.05), whereas rs1926447 C>T was associated with cardiovascular disease among Africans (all P values < 0.05). These data suggest that the polymorphisms investigated, especially rs3742264 G>A and rs1926447 C>T, have a modest effect on susceptibility to CCVDs.