Mw. Quasney et al., Increased frequency of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha-308 A allele in adults with human immunodeficiency virus dementia, ANN NEUROL, 50(2), 2001, pp. 157-162
Genetic polymorphisms in the regulatory regions of various cytokine genes i
nfluence the amount of cytokine produced in response to inflammatory stimul
i. To determine whether such polymorphisms might play a role in human immun
odeficiency virus (HIV) dementia, a disease process in which tumor necrosis
factor (TNF)-alpha is believed to play a role, we analyzed HIV-infected ad
ults with and without dementia and control populations for a polymorphic si
te located in the promoter region of the gene coding for TNF-oz. The presen
ce of the A allele at the TNF-alpha -308 site was overrepresented among adu
lts with HIV dementia compared to those without dementia (0.28 vs 0.07; OR
5.5; 95% CI 1.8-17-0) and a healthy control population (0.28 vs 0.11). The
increased frequency of the A allele in HIV-infected adults with dementia su
ggests that this locus may play a role in the pathophysiology of dementia a
nd suggests a genetic predisposition for the development of HIV dementia.