Development of a novel microarray methodology for the study of SNPs in the promoter region of the TNF-α gene—Their association with obstructive pulmonary disease in Greek patients

Objectives: Polymorphisms in promoter region of TNF-α gene were shown to interfere with the transcriptional activity of the gene resulting in the production of different levels of TNF-α product suggesting their involvement in susceptibility or severity of many inflammatory diseases. We set up a case–control study consisting of 117 COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), 62 DB (bronchiectasis) patients and two control groups (109 smokers without COPD-healthy smokers control group and 212 general population subjects) to evaluate involvement of TNF-α gene polymorphisms in the abovementioned diseases in a homogeneous population. Methods: The novel methodology of the NanoChip™ Molecular Biology Workstation (MBW Nanogen http://www.nanogen.com) was employed to genotype the 5 promoter SNPs. Results and conclusions: Genotype frequencies of the 5 SNPs showed no significant difference between the COPD and DB patient groups and the healthy smokers group. Statistical difference (p = 0.043) was only revealed between the haplotype frequencies in COPD patients compared to the general population control group. The NanoChip™ MBW is an accurate method for SNP screening.