Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Susceptibility to HIV Infection in Local Population of Lahore Pakistan

A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is observed at -308 position of the promoter region of tumor necrosis factor (TNF- α) gene due to which TNF is categorized into TNF1 and TNF2 allele. TNF2 allele is associated with higher concentration of TNF- α which in turn is associated with HIV infection. In order to know the association between TNF2 and HIV infection n =75 HIV positive samples and n=15 HIV negative samples were observed for TNF polymorphism. It was found that among the infected patients 53 patients had TNF2.The total percentage of the patients and controls having TNF2 allele was found to be 63.34.%. Chi square value was significant showing that there is a strong correlation between HIV susceptibility and TNF SNPs (-308) of the promoter region.