Analysis of TNF-α (-308) polymorphism and gingival crevicular fluid TNF-α levels in aggressive and chronic periodontitis: A preliminary report

• The putative role of TNF-α (-308) genotype in periodontal disease outcome was investigated.
• Correlation between TNF-α (-308) genotype, and GCF TNF-α levels was also analyzed.
• TNF-α (-308) allele 2 frequency may be associated with aggressive periodontitis.
• TNF-α may aggravate rapid destruction of periodontal attachment and bone loss in aggressive periodontitis.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the distribution of TNF-α (-308) gene polymorphism among aggressive periodontitis, chronic periodontitis and periodontally healthy individuals and also to investigate whether this polymorphism is associated with gingival crevicular fluid TNF-α levels and periodontal disease severity.Material and methodsA total of 93 individuals were enrolled in the study including 38 aggressive periodontitis, 29 chronic periodontitis patients, and 26 healthy controls. Single nucleotide polymorphism at TNF-α (-308) is analyzed by PCR-RFLP method. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were analyzed for TNF-α, using ELISA.ResultsThe distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies for TNF-α (-308) were similar among the groups. After stratification of patients with respect to attachment level, aggressive periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4 mm was observed to have a higher frequency of TNF-α (-308) allele 2 compared to the chronic periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4 mm. No significant differences were found between the TNF-α levels of the different genotypes in spite of an insignificant increase in patient groups carrying TNF-α (-308) allele 2.ConclusionThe results of this study revealed an association between TNF-α (-308) allele 2 frequency and aggressive periodontitis patients with clinical attachment level ⩾4 mm in the population studied.