Relation between TNF-α polymorphism and obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome accompanying hypertension

Objective To study the relation between TNF-α polymorphism and obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS) accompanying hypertension. Methods Three hundred severe OSAHS male patients who underwent sleep examination in our hospital from 2009 to 2012 were included in this study. Of these patients, 145 with hypertension served as a hypertension group and 100 randomly selected healthy subjects served as a control group. Their promoter gene(-308G>A and-863C>A) polymorphism was detected by gene sequencing. Relation between TNF-α polymorphism and OSAHS was analyzed by χ² test in OSAHS patients with hypertension, OSAHS patients and controls according to the R×C scale. Results The frequency of TNF-α-308GA was significantly lower in OSAHS patients with hypertension than in those without hypertension and healthy controls(4.1% vs 11.6% and 12.0%). No significant difference was found in the TNF-α-308 mainly manifested as the CC genotype among the 3 groups. Conclusion TNF-α-308GA can protect the OSAHS patients with hypertension by reducing TNF-α expression and is related with OSAHS accompanying hypertension.