Genetic analysis of six SNPs in candidate genes associated with high cross-race risk of development of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections in Chinese Han population.

AIM

Genetic susceptibility is an important risk factor for aortic aneurysm and dissection. Recent case-control association studies have identified six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a Caucasian population. We aimed to determine whether these loci confer susceptibility to thoracic aortic dissection (TAD) in a Chinese Han population and thus to establish cross-race susceptibility to TAD.

METHODS

This study analyzed blood DNA isolated from 206 TAD patients and 180 controls from the ethnic Chinese Han population. Six SNPs - rs819146, rs8003379, rs2853523, rs326118, rs3788205, and rs10757278 - were genotyped using high-throughput matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

The A allele frequency for the SNP on 9p21, tagged as rs10757278, was higher in male TAD patients than in male controls (P=0.017). Moreover, with adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors (sex, age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and smoking), the rs10757278 [odds ratio (OR) 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43 to 0.93] polymorphism was found to be an independent susceptibility factor for TAD in men.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that a sequence variant on 9p21 is an important susceptibility locus that confers high cross-race risk for development of TAD in Chinese Han population.