Association of Т174М polymorphism of the angiotensinogen gene with the higher risk of cerebral stroke in women

Abstract

AIM. To study the association of M235T (rs699) and T174M (rs4762) polymorphisms of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene with the risk of cerebral stroke (CS) in the Russians of the Central Chernozem Region. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 638 DNA samples obtained from 353 patients with CS and 285 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals were examined. The polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (T174M) and TaqMan allelic discrimination (M235T) assays. RESULTS. Heterozygous AGT 174TM genotype carriers were found to be at a higher risk for CS (odd ratio (OR)=1.52; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-2.15; p=0.02). A gender-stratified analysis showed that the mutant 174M allele (OR=1.86; 95% CI, 1.14-3.03, p=0.01) and variant 174TM and 174MM genotypes (OR=1.86; 95% CI, 1.09-3.20; p=0.02) were associated with the higher risk of cerebral stroke in women. Conclusion. The association of AGT T174M polymorphism with the risk of CS was first found; but the higher risk of the disease in the carriers of variant alleles and genotypes was observed in the women only.

Keywords

• cerebral stroke
• genetic predisposition
• angiotensinogen gene
• single-nucleotide polymorphism
• sexual dimorphism