265 Lack of association between -308g/a polymorphism of tumor necrosis factor -α gene and myocardial infarction in Tunisian population

BackgroundTumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a primary pro-inflammatory cytokine expressed in adipocytes and plays a crucial role in the inflammatory process, it also stimulates the production of chemo-attractant cytokines which may be a key feature of atherosclerosis. Relationship between polymorphisms in TNF-α gene and coronary heart disease has been reported, but remains a controversial subject. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible association between the -308 G/A promoter variant in the TNF-α gene and myocardial infarction (MI) in a sample of Tunisian population.Design and methodsOur study included 299 male patients MI enrolled from the department of Cardiology at Rabta University Hospital of Tunis and 408 male volunteer subjects with no history of MI. Genomic DNA was extracted from white blood cells, amplified by PCR followed by a digestion with the appropriate restriction endonuclease (NcoI) and genotyped by electrophoresis in agarose gels. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 11.5.ResultsMI patients compared to controls had significantly higher prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, cigarette smoking and dyslipidemia (p