Abstract:

Objective To investigate the correlations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha（TNF-α） -238/-308 single nucleotide polymorphism（SNP） and serum TNF-α levels with primary hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） in Guangxi Zhuang population. Methods A total of 175 subjects were classified into primary HCC group（102 cases） and healthy control group（73 cases）. Serum TNF-α levels and the genotypes of TNF-α-238/-308 SNP were determined by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） and polymerase chain reaction（PCR）-restriction fragment length polymorphism（RFLP）. Results Serum TNF-α levels in primary HCC group were higher than those in healthy control group（P<0.01）. For the genotype of TNF-α-308,serum TNF-α level of GA+AA genotype was higher than that of GG genotype（P<0.01）. The genotype and allele frequencies of TNF-α-308 in primary HCC group were higher than those in healthy control group（P<0.05）. The genotype and allele frequencies of TNF-α-238 in primary HCC group and healthy control group had no statistical significance（P>0.05）. The risk of primary HCC was higher in TNF-α-308 GA or AA genotype than that in TNF-α-308 GG genotype [odds ratio（OR）=3.556,95% confidence interval（CI）1.581-7.994]. The risk in TNF-α-308 A allele was 3.153 times higher than that in TNF-α-308 G allele （OR=3.153,95%CI 1.465-6.784）. Conclusions Serum TNF-α levels in primary HCC group are higher than those in healthy control group. TNF-α-308 SNP are correlated to serum TNF-α levels. TNF-α-308 SNP may be correlated to the genetic susceptibility of primary HCC in Guangxi Zhuang population.

Key words: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, Primary hepatocellular carcinoma, Single nucleotide polymorphism, Susceptibility