Paraoxonase gene polymorphism in Japanese subjects with coronary heart disease.

We investigated the association of paraoxonase (PON) gene polymorphism with both the occurrence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and the severity of coronary artery stenosis in Japanese subjects. PON is a protein associated with plasma HDL. It has been hypothesized an A/B (Gln 192-->Arg) polymorphism of PON may be involved in the pathogenesis of CHD, especially among subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The polymorphism was determined in 134 patients with myocardial infarction (MI) or angina pectoris, and in 252 healthy subjects as controls. The frequencies of the AA, AB, and BB genotypes in the patients were 15, 50 and 35%, respectively, and these frequencies did not differ from those in control subjects (14, 49, and 37%). The relative risk of CHD was not found to be associated with these genotypes. These data also were similar among selected subgroups (patients with MIs, those with a low-risk lipoprotein profile for CHD, and those with NIDDM). Neither the number of affected vessels nor Gensini's scores differed among the genotype groups. Our case-control study in Japanese subjects did not show that the PON A/B polymorphism is associated with a risk of CHD.