tnf-alpha gene polymorphisms in patients with behcet's disease and ocular involvment in an iranian azeri population

purpose: to evaluate the distribution of tnf-alpha promoter -1031t/c and -308g/a polymorphisms in an iranian population with behcet disease and ocular manifestation. method: we investigated the distribution of tnf-alpha promoter -1031t/c and -308g/a polymorphisms in 53 patients with behcet disease (bd) and 79 matched healthy controls, using the pcr-rflp technique. all subjects were from an iranian azeri population. results: the frequency of the tnf-alpha -308g/a polymorphism was similar in bd patients and healthy controls (p= 0.234) whereas the frequency of the tnf-alpha-1031t/c polymorphism was different between two groups (p= 0.0006). the frequency of the cg haplotype was significantly higher (p< 0.0001), and that of the ta haplotype was significantly lower in bd patients than healthy controls. different tnf-a-1031t/c and tnf-a-308g/a polymorphisms were not associated with ocular involvement. conclusion: tnf-alpha is a susceptibility gene for bd in iranian patients of azeri ethnicity. there was no relation between different haplotypes in the investigated genetic region in this group of bd patients with ocular manifestation.