Tumour necrosis factor‐alpha gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to oral lichen planus

Oral Diseases (2011) 17 , 206–209 Objective: This study is aimed to investigate the association between OLP susceptibility and clinical type in the Thai population and three polymorphisms within the promoter region of the TNF‐α at positions ‐863, ‐308 and ‐238 which have putative functional significances. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA from 75 Thai patients with OLP and 154 healthy controls were genotyped for TNF‐α polymorphisms – ‐863(rs1800630), ‐308(rs1800629), and ‐238(rs361525) – using polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP). Results: We found a higher proportion of TNF‐alpha‐308 AA genotype (high producer genotype) among OLP patients (5/75; 6.67%) when compared to healthy controls (1/154; 0.65%; OR = 10.93; 95% CI = 1.21–251.9). For other polymorphisms (‐863 and ‐238), we did not find any significant association with OLP development; this was also the case with haplotype analysis (‐863/‐308/‐238). Conclusion: TNF‐α‐308AA may play a relevant role in the susceptibility and severity of OLP in the Thai population. However, further investigation of this study is needed.