Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is involved in liver damage, especially in fulminant hepatitis (FH). Our previous data showed that the serum level of TNF-alpha was markedly increased in FH. To investigate the mechanism of the overproduction of TNF in FH patients, polymorphism of the TNF gene was studied.
Department of Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, 162-8666 Tokyo, Japan.