The study has investigated whether -238A/G and -308A/G polymorphisms in the promoter region of TNF-α are associated with susceptibility to gout in the Chinese Han male population. Two hundred and thirty eight gout patients and 263 gout-free controls were enrolled. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to detect the genotypes and allelic frequencies of TNF-α-238A/G and -308A/G. No statistically significant difference was found in the genotypes (for TNF-α-238A/G, χ² = 1.741, DF = 1, p = 0.187, OR = 0.646, 95% CI: 0.336-1.241; for TNF-α-308A/G, χ² = 1.893, DF = 2, p = 0.388) or allelic frequencies (for TNF-α-238A/G, χ² =
= 1.669, DF = 1, p = 0.196, OR = 1.520, 95% CI: 0.802-2.882; for TNF-α-308A/G, χ² = 0.032, DF = 1,
p = 0.857, OR = 0.957, 95% CI: 0.590-1.552) of TNF-α-238A/G and -308A/G polymorphisms between patients and controls. The -238A/G and -308A/G polymorphisms in the promoter region of TNF-α are not associated with susceptibility to gout and thus do not play a major role in the development of gout in the Chinese Han male population.