POLYMORPHISM IN TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR GENES ASSOCIATED WITH MYASTHENIA-GRAVIS

The aim of this study was to analyze associations between myasthenia g ravis (MG) and polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) region in 79 Swedish patients and 155 unrelated controls. The frequency of t he TNFa2 allele of a microsatellite located 3.5 kb upstream of the lym photoxin alpha (LT-alpha) gene in the TNF region was found to be incre ased in overall MG patients compared to controls. The frequency of the short 5.5 kb fragment (TNFB 1) of a bi-allelic NcoI RFLP polymorphis m located at the first intron of the LT-a gene was increased in patien ts with an early onset of disease compared to patients with a later on set. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.