Meta-analysis of association between variation in the PDE4D gene and ischemic cerebral infarction risk in Asian populations.

Phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) was found to be associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke by Iceland researchers in 2003. Replication studies have produced conflicting results. A recent meta-analysis reported that no genetic variant of PDE4D demonstrated a reproducible association with ischemic stroke, especially when analyzed with respect to white subjects exclusively. In this study, we aimed to determine the association between PDE4D and ischemic infarction risk in Asian populations. After collecting all case-control studies in English or Chinese related to the association between PDE4D and ischemic infarction in Asian people, strict selection criteria and exclusion criteria were determined, and a fixed or random effects model was used on the basis of heterogeneity. To measure the strength of the genetic association, a pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each gene variant. Publication bias was evaluated. None of the Asian subjects were heterozygous for SNP 45 or SNP 41. Only seven studies involving SNP 83 and SNP 87 had sufficient data to allow inclusion into meta-analyses. Statistically significant associations with ischemic infarction in the Asian populations were determined for SNP 83 C allele (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.03-1.43) and SNP 83 CC genotype (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.14-1.77), but not for SNP 83 CC + CT genotypes or SNP 87. PDE4D was associated with ischemic infarction risk in Asian people, and SNP 83 was an important biomarker.