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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adolescent, Adult, Alleles, Birth Weight, DNA, Female, Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture, Gene Frequency, Gestational Age, Humans, Mutation, Obstetric Labor, Premature, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Pregnancy, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Transcription, Genetic, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha.
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Does a promoter mutation that increase transcription of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene is not associated with preterm delivery? Context: Increased amniotic fluid concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha are observed in women with preterm labor and subsequent preterm birth. We tested whether a mutation in the promoter region of tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene, TNF T2, which increases transcription of the gene, is more frequent in a preterm delivery cohort. Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted from whole blood of 203 women and 44 fetuses delivered at < 37 weeks of estimated gestational age. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene. The resulting polymerase chain product was subjected to allele-specific enzymatic digestion with Nco I. Fragments were size fractionated on a 3% Metaphor agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide. Results were analyzed with use of a chi 2 contingency table. No statistically significant differences for either the TNF T1 or TNF T2 allele frequencies were found between women or fetuses delivered preterm compared with a control group or previously published allele frequencies.
assistant
The frequency of this tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter mutation, TNF T2, is not increased in either women or fetuses delivered at < 37 weeks' gestation. Basal levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha are unlikely to affect a woman's risk of preterm delivery. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha variants should not be used as a predictive test for preterm delivery. Final Decision: yes