TNF-alpha gene (TNFA) variants increase risk for multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in acute pancreatitis

TNFA promoter variants do not alter susceptibility to AP, but rather the TNF−α expression-enhancing −1031C and −863A alleles significantly increased the risk of AP progression to MODS. These data, within the context of previous studies, clarify the risk of specific genetic variants in TNFA and therefore the role of TNF−α in the overall AP syndrome.