The tumor necrosis factor-α –238G/A and IL-6 –572G/C gene polymorphisms and the risk of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: a meta-analysis of 25 studies including 9493 cases and 13,971 controls

Inflammation plays an imperative role in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The role of cytokines in the development and progression of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) is still uncertain. The current study was conducted to evaluate the association of tumor necrosis factor-α (IDCM cases (n=250) and healthy controls (n=300) were genotyped using PCR-RFLP.The variant genotypes of both the loci showed significant differences between patients and controls (p<0.05). However, –238G/A polymorphism did not show association with the disease in the presence of covariates. We also conducted a meta-analysis of both the loci with regards to CVD in accordance with the Prisma checklist. No significant relation of theOur findings support an association between the