Sepsis is defined as an infection that causes the immune system to attack the body, subsequently leading to death. Some findings suggest that there is a high level of correlation between tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activity and susceptibility to sepsis. We used MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science databases to conduct an automated search covering the years 2000-2019. The Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) criteria and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used for the meta-analysis. The selected studies were evaluated based on their focus on the TNF-α -308 A/G polymorphism, sepsis and sepsis mortality. Based on this inclusion criterion, 24 papers out of 782 were chosen for the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager. The comparison of TNF1 and TNF2 among the patients was calculated in the 2 groups and the odds ratio (OR) was used to construct the forest plots. The meta-analysis of the OR in Asian and Caucasian populations does not prove the influence of TNF variant on sepsis risk.
Keywords: 308A/G polymorphism; sepsis; single nucleotide polymorphisms; tumor necrosis factor.