VEGF 936C>T is predictive of threshold retinopathy of prematurity in Japanese infants with a 30-week gestational age or less

Abstract

Mariko Yagi1, Motohiro Yamamori4, Ichiro Morioka2, Naoki Yokoyama2, Shigeru Honda3, Akira Negi3, Tsutomu Nakamura1, Noboru Okamura4, Katsuhiko Okumura1, Toshiyuki Sakaeda5, Masafumi Matsuo21Department of Clinical Evaluation of Pharmacotherapy, 2Department of Pediatrics, 3Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan; 4Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya, Japan; 5Center for Integrative Education of Pharmacy Frontier, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanAbstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) contributes to the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). We investigated the association of ROP with VEGF genetic polymorphisms and its clinical parameters in Japanese people. Sixty-seven infants with a gestational age of 30 weeks or less were enrolled and classified into the threshold ROP group (infants with Stage 3 ROP in zone I or II, five continuous or eight total clock hours of the retina and the presence of plus disease, n = 30) and the nonthreshold ROP group (n = 37). The VEGF genotypes of −1498T>C, −1154G>A, −634C>G, −7C>T, 936C>T, and 1612G>A were determined. VEGF 936C>T polymorphism and 11 clinical parameters were significantly different between the two ROP groups by univariate analysis. A logistic regression analysis with adjustments for gestational age and birth weight showed that the heterozygous or homozygous carrier state of the T alleles of VEGF 936C>T polymorphism (odds ratio 5.12; 95% confidence interval: 1.25–20.92; P = 0.023) and duration of oxygen administration (odds ratio 1.05; 95% confidence interval: 1.00–1.10; P = 0.042) were independent risk factors of threshold ROP. VEGF 936C>T polymorphism may predict threshold ROP in Japanese infants with a gestational age of 30 weeks or less.Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity, vascular endothelial growth factor, gene polymorphism, premature infant