TNF-α, TNF-β and IL-4 gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis

Objective – To investigate the association between tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) G‐308A, tumor necrosis factor‐β (TNF‐β) G+252A and interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) C‐590T polymorphisms and susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) development and clinical course of the disease. Materials and methods – Two hundred and seventy patients with MS and 542 sex and ethnic matched controls were enrolled in the present study. An allele‐specific oligonucleotide polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the polymorphism at position −308 of the TNF‐α gene. The genotypes of TNF‐β and IL‐4 were determined by polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results – Allelic and genotypic frequencies for these polymorphisms were similar in patients with MS and population controls or among different types of the disease. Conclusion – The results of the present study suggest that the three mentioned functional polymorphisms are not likely to cause susceptibility to MS in the Iranian population.