TNF-alpha 308G/A Polymorphism and Serum Level of TNF-α Associated with Covid-19 Severity

T-lymphocyte-derived cytokines, including TNF-α, play a critical role in regulating cellular functions, particularly the immune response to pathogenic infections. This study investigated the frequency of TNF-α gene 308 promoter alleles and measured the serum cytokine levels in both control and patient groups. The study was a case-control study that included 84 COVID-19 positive patients from Kerman's Afzalipur Hospital, Iran, and 84 healthy individuals with negative coronavirus test results as the control group. It was used bioinformatics analysis and the PCR-RFLP technique to determine the TNF promoter region's genotype and the ELISA test to measure the cytokine's serum level. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software (Version-20) with a significance level of P<0.05. It was found that the TNF promoter region's 308 SNP genotype was associated with TFII-I transcription factor binding predictions. However, there was no significant difference in allele frequency between the control and case groups in the TNF-308 promoter (P<0.05). Patients with COVID-19 had higher serum levels of TNF-α compared to the control group (P<0.05). The study also revealed that elevated levels of TNF-α, LDH, ESR, and CRP in the serum can predict severe outcomes in COVID-19. Although the study did not identify significant differences in TNF-α allele -308 frequencies between COVID-19 patients and the control group, the results suggest that TNF-α alleles may impact the infection severity. As a result, measuring serum TNF-α levels and identifying TNF-α alleles in COVID-19 patients could be valuable for predicting disease severity and developing targeted therapies.