Tumour necrosis factor-alpha cytokine promoter gene polymorphism in Hodgkin's disease and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Regulation of cytokine levels has been shown to be under genetic control th rough the coding and promoter sequences of genetic polymorphisms. We elucid ated the prevalence of a previously described G to A transition polymorphis m at position -308 of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter region in a population of patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) (n = 36) an d chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) (n = 49) and healthy volunteers (n = 51), The DNA fragment containing this polymorphism was amplified by PCR and sequenced by solid-phase minisequencing. The frequency of the TNF-alpha pr omoter polymorphism was not significantly different between CLL patients an d HD patients compared to controls.