Aim: Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. TNFalpha production is influenced by gene polymorphisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate links between genetic variants and chronic/aggressive periodontitis in a multivariate model.
Subjects: One hundred and twenty-three periodontitis patients (chronic: n=54, aggressive: n=69) and 52 healthy controls without periodontitis were included in the study.
Material and methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) c.-308G>A, c.-238G>A and haplotypes were analysed by a polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). The clinical investigation included smoking status, plaque and bleeding indexes, pocket depth and attachment loss.
Results: Prevotella intermedia occurred more frequently in individuals positive for the -308GG/-238GG haplotype combination (Odds Ratio=2, 95% Confidence interval: 1.1-3.7, p=0.037, 1-beta=61%). In binary logistic regression analyses, this TNFalpha haplotype could not be shown to be associated with periodontitis considering smoking, age, gender and approximal plaque index or subgingival bacterial colonization as confounding factors.
Conclusions: Although the genetic background of TNFalpha could be shown to be associated with subgingival colonization with P. Intermedia, there is no evidence that it is an independent risk factor for periodontitis in multivariate models.