Association of gene polymorphism with genetic susceptibility to stroke in Asian populations: a meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of human genetics Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 205 - 219
• Main Authors: Banerjee, Indranil, Gupta, Veena, Ganesh, Subramaniam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.03.2007
• Subjects: ACE protein; Adult; Aged; Alleles; Angiotensin; Apolipoprotein E; Apolipoproteins E - genetics; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Female; Gene deletion; Gene Frequency; Gene polymorphism; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Insertion; Male; Meta-analysis; Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) - genetics; Middle Aged; Neuroimaging; Peptidyl-dipeptidase A; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A - genetics; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Genetic; Sensitivity analysis; Statistical analysis; Stroke; Stroke - enzymology; Stroke - genetics
• ISSN: 1434-5161; 1435-232X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10038-006-0098-x

Stroke is a heterogeneous multifactorial disease and is thought to have a polygenic basis. Case-control studies on gene sequence variations have identified a number of potential genetic predisposition factors, but due to the conflicting results, uncertainty remains on the effect of these polymorphisms on risk for the development of stroke. To qualitatively and quantitatively assess the risk associated with different gene polymorphisms for stroke in Asian populations, we comprehensively searched and identified all the studies of association. Clinically overt case-control studies were selected only if neuroimaging had been used as the confirmatory measure for diagnosis of stroke. We performed a meta-analysis of the three most investigated genes, viz., methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Statistically significant association with stroke were identified for C677T polymorphism of MTHFR [random effects odds ratio (OR) = 1.47, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.19, 1.82; P = 0.0004] and marginally significant association was detected with allele epsilon 4 of ApoE (random effects OR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.00, 2.15; P = 0.049). The sensitivity analysis (exclusion of studies with controls not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium) revealed a significant association of stroke with the MTHFR C677T and ApoE epsilon 4 alleles but showed no association with ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism.