Tumour necrosis factor-α gene polymorphisms in asbestos-induced diseases

Background: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha influences the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis and carcinogenesis in normal cells. Polymorphisms of this gene have been suggested to be associated with susceptibility to lung diseases. Methods: Association studies were performed in German subjects, using control subjects (n = 177), pulmonary fibrosis patients (n = 612) and bronchial carcinoma patients (n = 374). Results: Compared with a healthy (control) group, a significant result could be obtained for the asbestosis (patient) group (crude odds ratio (ORcrude) = 1.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-2.36; p = 0.03), especially with severe lung asbestosis (ORcrude = 4.15; 95% CI 1.06-16.16; p = 0.04). A significant association was revealed when comparing asbestosis patients (ORcrude = 4.08; 95% CI 1.53-10.54; p = 0.004 and ORadjusted = 3.89; 95% CI 1.49-10.17; p = 0.006) with asbestos-induced lung cancer patients. Conclusion: The results confirm the hypothesis that TNF-alpha polymorphisms are associated with asbestos-induced fibrotic or malignant lung diseases in Germans.