Association of tumor necrosis factor alpha -308 single nucleotide polymorphism with SARS CoV-2 infection in an Iraqi Kurdish population.

Uncovering risk factors playing roles in the severity of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) are important for understanding pathoimmunology of the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2). Genetic variations in innate immune genes have been found to be associated with Covid-19 infections. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in a promoter region of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) gene, TNF-α -308G>A, increases expression of TNF-α protein against infectious diseases leading to immune dysregulations and organ damage. This study aims to discover associations between TNF-α -308G>A SNP and Covid-19 infection. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used for genotyping a general Kurdish population and Covid-19 patients. The homozygous mutant (AA) genotype was found to be rare in the current studied population. Interestingly, the heterozygous (GA) genotype was significantly (p value = 0.0342) higher in the Covid-19 patients than the general population. This suggests that TNF-α -308G>A SNP might be associated with Covid-19 infections. Further studies with larger sample sizes focusing on different ethnic populations are recommended.