A Meta-Analysis of the Association between TNF-α −308G>A Polymorphism and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Han Chinese Population

Objective: A meta-analysis was applied to evaluate the associations between tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) −308G>A (rs1800629) polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was employed to test genetic equilibrium among the genotypes of the selected literature. Power analysis was performed with the Power and Sample Size Calculation (PS) program. A fixed or random effect model was used on the basis of heterogeneity. Publication bias was quantified and examined with the Begg's funnel plot test and Egger's linear regression test. The meta-analysis was performed with Review Manager 5.1 and Stata 11.0. Results: There were 10 studies including 1425 T2DM patients and 1116 healthy control subjects involved in this meta-analysis. No significant publication bias was found in the studies. The pooled ORs (95% CIs) for TNF-α −308G>A of A vs. G allele and GA+AA vs. GG genotype were 1.63 (1.17–2.25) and 1.47 (1.17–1.85), respectively. Conclusion: This meta-analysis result suggested that TNF-α −308G>A polymorphism was strongly associated with T2DM risk, and A allele at this locus might be a susceptibility allele for the development of T2DM in Han Chinese population.