TNF and LTA Gene, Allele, and Extended HLA Haplotype Associations with Severe Dengue Virus Infection in Ethnic Thais

Severe dengue virus (DENV) infection is characterized by a cascade of cytokine production, including the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-alpha). We have analyzed a variety of polymorphisms in the TNF and LTA genes of 435 ethnic Thais who had subclinical DENV infection, primary or secondary dengue fever (DF), or primary or secondary dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). The TNF - 238A polymorphism marking the TNF-4, LTA-3 haplotype occurred in a significantly greater number of patients with secondary DHF (20 [15.2%] of 132) than patients with secondary DF (7 [4.1%] of 169) (P<.001; P corrected by use of Bonferroni adjustment, .022; odds ratio, 4.13 [95% confidence interval, 1.59-11.17]). In a subset of patients, the LTA-3 haplotype was associated with in vivo intracellular production of LT-alpha and TNF-alpha during the acute viremic phase of infection. Two extended human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotypes containing TNF-4 and LTA-3, together with HLA-B48, HLA-B57, and HLA-DPB1*0501, were detected only in patients with secondary DHF. These observations indicate that polymorphism in functionally distinct MHC-encoded proteins contributes to the risk of developing severe secondary DENV infection and warrants further investigation.