A tailed primers protocol to identify the association of eNOS gene variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism with ischemic stroke in Chinese Han population by capillary electrophoresis

Polymorphism rs7214723 in CAMKK1: a new genetic variant associated with cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths worldwide. CVDs have a complex etiology due to the several factors underlying its development including environment, lifestyle, and genetics. Given the role of calcium signal transduction in several CVDs, we investigated via PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7214723 within the calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase 1 (CAMKK1) gene coding for the Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase I. The variant rs7214723 causes E375G substitution within the kinase domain of CAMKK1. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 cardiac patients. RFLP-PCR technique was applied, and statistical analysis was performed to evaluate genotypic and allelic frequencies and to identify an association between SNP and risk of developing specific CVD. Genotype and allele frequencies for rs7214723 were statistically different between cardiopathic and several European reference populations. A logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender, age, diabetes, hypertension, BMI and previous history of malignancy was applied on cardiopathic genotypic data and no association was found between rs7214723 polymorphism and risk of developing specific coronary artery disease (CAD) and aortic stenosis (AS). These results suggest the potential role of rs7214723 in CVD susceptibility as a possible genetic biomarker.

Gene polymorphisms in calcium-calmodulin pathway: Focus on cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in industrialized countries and affects an increasing number of people. Several risk factors play an important role in the etiology of this disease, such as an unhealthy lifestyle. It is increasingly clear that genetic factors influencing the molecular basis of excitation-contraction mechanisms in the heart could contribute to modify the individual's risk. Thanks to the progress that has been made in understanding calcium signaling in the heart, it is assumed that calmodulin can play a crucial role in the excitation-contraction coupling. In fact, calmodulin (CaM) binds calcium and consequently regulates calcium channels. Several works show how some polymorphic variants can be considered predisposing factors to complex pathologies. Therefore, we hypothesize that the identification of polymorphic variants of proteins involved in the CaM pathway could be important for understanding how genetic traits can influence predisposition to myocardial infarction. This review considers each pathway of the three different isoforms of calmodulin (CaM1; CaM2; CaM3) and focuses on some common proteins involved in the three pathways, with the aim of analyzing the polymorphisms studied in the literature and understanding if they are associated with cardiovascular disease.

Identification of Functional Genetic Polymorphisms at IL-10 Promoter Region and their Association with Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Chinese Han Population

BACKGROUND

Pleiotropic cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been suggested as modifying risk for atherosclerosis. Promoter region genetic polymorphism of IL-10 gene is known to be associated with the level of IL-10 production. Through these effects, they might be involved with the ischemic stroke (IS). Our aim was to assess the nature of the functional polymorphisms in IL-10 promoter and any links with IS in Chinese Han population.

METHODS

The IL-10 -1082 G>A, -819 C>T and -592 C>A functional polymorphisms were determined by TaqMan SNP Genotyping assays in 1296 subjects (648 IS patients diagnosed by CTs or/and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 648 normal healthy controls from Chinese Han Population). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to show the association between the IL-10 genotypes and the IS events.

RESULTS

We found that the CC genotype of -819 C>T was more common in controls than IS subjects (P<0.05, corrected for multiple testing) in the Han population. CC carriage may be associated with the decreased risk of IS in the Han ethnic group (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.43-0.97). In addition, the CC genotype in -592 C>A and GG genotype in -1082 G>A are all extremely low in Chinese Han cases and controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The G allele frequency at the -1082 promoter region of IL-10 was rare in Chinese Han population which are diffierent from American/European populations.. IL-10 -819 C>T may be an independent protective factor for IS in the Chinese Han population.

Endothelial nitric oxide gene polymorphisms and their association with coronary artery disease in Tunisian population

OBJECTIVE

By releasing mediators, like nitric oxide (NO), vascular endothelium is considered so significant in the process of atherosclerotic . In fact, the major functions of NO consist in inhibiting the activation of platelet, relaxing the muscles (vascular and smooth ones), and modulating the growth and the migration of cells (vascular and smooth ones). Therefore, this process makes the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) considerably important because it possesses atheroprotective activity. Polymophisms, rs1808593 (10G/T) as well as rs891512 (G24943A) within NOS3 gene, play major role in the coronary artery disease (CAD) development. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between the 10G/T and G24943A polymorphisms and the CAD among Tunisian individuals.

METHODS

We included, in this survey, a set of 274 patients suffering from CAD together with 162 normotensive subjects. The PCR-RFLP was applied to analyze the polymorphism of intron 23 (10G/T) gene, while the ASA-PCR was used to analyze the intronic G24943A gene polymorphism. Overall and subgroup analyses were performed. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the association between NOS3 10G/T and G24943A polymorphisms as well as CAD risk. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS V.10.

RESULTS

The genotype frequencies for G24943A polymorphism differed significantly between the CAD patients and the controls. The former had a frequency of 11.4% for the AA genotype, 34.7% for the GA genotype and 53.9% for the GG genotype. The latter had a frequency of only 2.5% for the AA genotype, 29.7% for the GA genotype and 67.7% for the GG genotype (χ2=7.62; OR=1.79; p=0.006). The CAD patient group showed a significantly-higher frequency of the A allele compared to the controls (0.28 vs. 0.16; χ2=15.20; p<0.001). The odds ratio of CAD for A vs. G allele frequency was statistically significant 1.99 (1.4-2.82) at 95% CI. The genotype distribution for the 3 investigated variants of 10G/T were not significantly different between CAD and control subjects (χ2=1.46; OR=1.72; p=0.22). Whereas, 10G/T has revealed barely allelic (χ2=4.45; OR=2.3; p=0.034) correlation with coronary artery disease Conclusion: The present study was designed so that there would be an association between the CAD and NOS3 polymorphism (G24943A). However, these results have proven that the polymorphism of 10G/T is not associated with CAD in the Tunisian population.

Variants in neuronal nitric oxide synthase gene may contribute to increased ischemic stroke susceptibility in a Han Chinese population

Variants in neuronal NOS (nNOS) gene were associated with atherosclerosis and stroke susceptibility. We aimed to investigate the association between nNOS gene polymorphism and risk of ischemic stroke caused by small-artery occlusion (SAO) and large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA) in a Chinese population. We conducted a case-control study involving 381 ischemic stroke patients and 366 healthy subjects. Selected SNPs (rs1483757, rs2293050, and rs2139733) were genotyped and assessed; the association with the risk of ischemic stroke was analyzed. Furthermore, gender- and etiologic subtype-stratified analyses were also carried out to evaluate the association between nNOS polymorphisms and risk of ischemic stroke. No significant difference was observed between selected nNOS loci and risk of ischemic stroke in alleles or any genetic models in total study population, males or females, adjusted with age, drinking and smoking status. Rs2293050 and rs2139733 genotypes were associated with total cholesterol (rs2293050, P = 0.026; rs2139733, P = 0.040) and LDL (rs2293050, P = 0.031; rs2139733, P = 0.046) in females. A significant difference in allele distribution of rs2293050 (P = 0.040) and a marginally significant difference of rs2139733 (P = 0.061) in LAA-caused ischemic stroke cases and controls were observed in total population. No association between rs1483757 and ischemic stroke was found in this study. T allele of rs2293050 and A allele of rs2139733 in nNOS gene may contribute to increased susceptibility of LAA-caused ischemic stroke in Han Chinese.