Objectives: Inherited and acquired risk factors contribute to the development of the atherosclerotic lesion and its most common clinical manifestation, myocardial infarction (MI). Multiple studies have suggested a role for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in atherosclerosis, and several functional polymorphisms in the MMP-1 gene have been linked to the risk of MI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between MMP-1 promoter polymorphisms and early MI in a Spanish cohort.
Methods: We carried out a case-control study with 261 unrelated patients who had suffered an MI before 55 years of age and 194 healthy controls, all male and smokers. The genotypes for the three MMP-1 promoter polymorphisms -1607 1G/2G, -519 A/G, and -340 T/C were determined through PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Allelic, genotypic, and haplotypic frequencies were statistically compared between groups.
Results: Frequencies of the three polymorphisms did not differ between patients and controls. The -1607 1G/2G and -519 A/G variants were in linkage disequilibrium. Analysis of the haplotype frequencies showed significant associations of the 2G(-1607)-G(-519)-T(-340) (odds ratio = 2.40; 95% confidence interval = 1.27-4.55; P<0.006) and 1G(-1607)-G(-519)-T(-340) (odds ratio = 0.68; 95% confidence interval = 0.50-0.94; P<0.05) haplotypes with the risk of early MI.
Conclusion: MMP-1 promoter polymorphisms are associated with the risk of early MI in a Spanish population of smoking males.