Gene variants at FTO, 9p21, and 2q36.3 are age-independently associated with myocardial infarction in Czech men

Abstract

Aim: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. This study aimed to confirm the effect of common putative CVD-associated gene variants (FTO rs17817449, KIF6 rs20455, 9p21 rs10757274 and 2q36.3 rs2943634) on CVD manifestation, and determine whether this effect differs between younger (< 50 years) and older CVD patients.

Methods: 1191 controls and 1889 MI patients were analyzed. All participants were Caucasian Czech males aged <65 years (532 were <50 years) who were examined at cardiology clinics in Prague, Czech Republic. Variants of FTO, 9p21, 2q36.3, and KIF-6 were genotyped using PCR-RFLP or TaqMan assay.

Results: Variants of FTO (OR 1.48; 95% CI, 1.19-1.84 in a TT vs. GG comparison, p=0.0005); 9p21 (OR 1.74; 95% CI, 1.41-2.14 in an AA vs. GG comparison, p=0.0001); and 2q36.3 (OR 1.34; 95%CI, 1.09-1.65 in an AA vs. +C comparison, p=0.006) were significantly associated with MI in the male Czech population. In contrast, genotype frequencies of KIF-6 (rs20455) were the same in patients and controls (P=1.00). Nearly identical results were observed when a subset of young MI patients (N=532, aged <50 years) was analyzed.

Conclusion: We confirmed the importance of determining FTO, 9p21, and 2q36.3 variants as part of the genetic determination of MI risk in the Czech male population.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Polymorphism; Slavic population; Young.