The importance of genetic variants in TNFα for periodontal disease in a cohort of coronary patients.

AIM

The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the importance of genetic variants of TNFα for the severity of periodontal disease and periodontal risk factors with respect to periodontal risk factors in a cohort of coronary patients.

SUBJECTS

A total of 942 consecutive patients with angiographic proven coronary heart disease were prospectively included in the study entitled "Periodontitis and Its Microbiological Agents as Prognostic Factors in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease" (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier:NCT01045070).

METHODS

After including of patients, an extensive periodontal examination also involving PCR-sampling for 11 periodontal bacteria was performed. In this subanalysis, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) c.-308G>A, c.-238G>A and haplotypes for TNFα were analysed by CTS-PCR-SSP Tray kit (Heidelberg, Germany).

RESULTS

The AG+AA genotype of SNP c.-238G>A of TNFα gene was associated with the amount of clinical attachment loss in patients with coronary heart disease in multivariate regression analysis. Moreover, Prevotella intermedia occurred more frequently in carriers who were positive for the AG+AA genotype and A-allele of SNP c.-308G>A in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Furthermore, only in bivariate analyses significant associations of genetic variants of TNFα with intensified bleeding on probing and with higher plasma level of interleukin 6 could be shown.

CONCLUSIONS

Genetic variants of TNFα gene, namely c.-308G>A and c.-238G>A, are associated with periodontal conditions in patients with coronary heart disease.