Investigation of TNF-alpha gene (G308A) and GSTP1 gene (Ile105Val) polymorphisms in Turkish patients with retinopathy of prematurity

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the most frequent causes of blindness in newborn babies. Currently, its etiology is not fully understood. In this study we aimed to investigate the correlation between a patient group with ROP and a control group in terms of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (G308A) gene and glutathione-S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) (Ile105Val) gene polymorphism. Materials and methods: Sixty-two patients diagnosed with ROP and 58 control subjects were included in this study. For TNF-alpha (G308A) gene and GSTP1 (Ile105Val) gene polymorphisms, the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used. In statistical analysis the significance level was determined as P < 0.05. Results: When the patient and control groups were compared in terms of TNF-alpha (G308A) gene and GSTP1 (Ile105Val) gene polymorphisms, no statistically significant difference was found (P > 0.05). Conclusion: In our study, no correlation was identified between TNF-alpha (G308A) gene and GSTP1 (Ile105Val) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility for development of ROP. Further studies are required with more cases of ROP patients and other gene polymorphisms that could be related.