Association of TNF-α 2308 G > A and ACE I/D gene polymorphisms in hemodialysis patients with arteriovenous fistula thrombosis

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF - alpha) -308 G > A promoter polymorphism seems to be associated with adverse clinical outcome in hemodialysis patients (HD). Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene may be the causative factor contributing to the deterioration of renal functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between vascular access failure and the genetic polymorphisms of ACE and TNF-alpha gene. We enrolled and genotyped 47 HD patients with arteriovenous fistula (AVF) thrombosis, 51 HD patients without AVF thrombosis, and 40 healthy controls. The genotypes of these polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The genotype distribution of TNF-alpha -308 G > A in patients with thrombosis was significantly different from the patients without thrombosis (p = 0.008). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of ACE I/D polymorphism (p = 0.213). Our results propose that TNF-alpha -308 G > A genotype may be a potential genetic marker on HD patients with AVF thrombosis.