Association between tumor necrosis factor .ALPHA.-308 G/A polymorphism and acne vulgaris: a meta - analysis

Objective To assess the association between tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) -308 G/A polymorphism and the susceptibility to acne vulgaris by using a meta-analysis. Methods Relevant literature was searched in the PubMed (1948-August 20, 2015) , Embase (1974-August 20, 2015) and CNKI (1994-August 20, 2015) databases. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, case-control studies on the association between the TNF-α-308 G/A polymorphism and acne vulgaris were selected. Then, the quality of studies was evaluated, data were extracted, and statistical analysis was done by using Stata 12.0 software. Results Finally, 7 eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis, which comprised 986 patients with acne vulgaris and 1 074 healthy controls. No significant association was observed between the TNF-α-308 G/A polymorphism and acne vulgaris. Conclusion There is no significant association between TNF-α-308 G/A polymorphism and acne vulgaris. Key words: Acne vulgaris; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Polymorphism, single nucleotide; Meta-analysis