ASSOCIATION BETWEEN POLYMORPHISMS IN THE TNF REGION AND SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS IN THE ITALIAN POPULATION

The purpose of this work was to test the hypothesis that MHC encoded s usceptibility factors for SLE lie in the TNF region. An association st udy was performed by analyzing 123 northern Italian SLE patients and 1 99 matched controls for three TNF markers: two polymorphisms in the TN FA promoter and the TNFa microsatellite. Haplotypic combinations of TN F markers were also compared in patients and controls. No significant association was observed considering either the whole SLE panel or SLE clinical and immunological subtypes. Three TNF-238/A homozygous patie nts were detected, while no homozygote was present in controls. The cl inical and immunological phenotype of the three -238/A homozygotes sug gests that the -238/AA genotype is a marker of a particular clinical s ubtype.