Meta-analysis of the TNF-α-308G/A polymorphism and vitiligo risk

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Several case-control studies have been conducted to investigate the association between the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-308G/A polymorphism and vitiligo risk. However, the results of these studies are inconsistent; therefore, we attempted to comprehensively evaluate the association between TNF-α-308G/A polymorphism and vitiligo risk via a meta-analysis. Studies reporting the association between TNF-α-308G/A polymorphism and vitiligo risk were retrieved from PubMed and EmBase databases. Data were extracted from these studies and the pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the association. Six case-control studies including 1391 vitiligo cases and 2455 control subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The overall results showed the lack of a significant difference in TNF-α-308G/A genotype distribution between the patients and controls when the G allele and GG, GG + GA, GG, and GG genotypes were compared against the A allele and the GA + AA, AA, AA, and GA genotypes, respectively (ORs = 0.65, 0.53, 0.63, 0.41, 0.55; P = 0.188, 0.121, 0.627, 0.264, 0.135, respectively). This meta-analysis suggests that the TNF-α-308G/A polymorphism may not be associated with vitiligo risk. As few studies are available in this field and current evidence remains limited, these results must be corroborated with well-designed and larger studies in the future.

Identification of <i>TNF-α</i> as Major Susceptible Risk Locus for Vitiligo: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study in the Asian Population

“…There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between TNFA-308(G > A) and vitiligo susceptibility [21,30,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. Variations in ethnicity and smaller sample sizes may have contributed to the difficulty in conclusively establishing a genetic association between TNFA-308(G > A) SNP and vitiligo susceptibility risk [58,59]. In light of recent associations between TNFA-308(G > A) SNP and vitiligo susceptibility, meta-analysis should be performed to enhance statistical power and elucidate the exact role of this SNP in vitiligo susceptibility [21,56,60].…”

Association Analysis of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Promoter Polymorphisms and Vitiligo Susceptibility in South Indian Tamils

“…However, lack of association of -308A with vitiligo in Turkish and Northeastern Mexican ethnic groups was also reported [26, 27]. A meta-analysis by Nie et al [28] and Wu et al [29] showed that the TNF-α -308A variant was not associated with the development of viti­ligo. However, a meta-analysis based on geographical stratification by Lee and Bae [30] revealed that the TNF-α -308G/A polymorphism was significantly associated with vitiligo susceptibility in Middle Eastern populations.…”

Identification of pathogenic genes and transcription factors in vitiligo

“…Furthermore, genetic predisposition is also reported. Increasing numbers of vitiligo susceptibility genes and candidate genes have been discovered, such as VDR (Maresca et al, ), COMT (Li et al, ), TNF (Nie et al, ), CAT (Liu et al, ), COX2 (Li et al, ), Nrf2 (Guan et al, ), and AHR (Wang et al, ); the details of single nucleotide polymorphisms in vitiligo susceptibility genes are shown in Table . Genetic mutations or polymorphisms may cause congenital defects of melanocyte function or a lack of ability to resist external harmful factors and self‐repair, thereby increasing the risk of individuals developing vitiligo.…”