Abstract

Background: Recent studies have reported contrasting results regarding the association of polymorphisms in two integrin genes, ITGA2 and ITGB3, with ischemic stroke.

Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the ITGA2 C807T and ITGB3 T176C polymorphic loci with ischemic stroke, as well as plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels.

Study Design: Case control study.

Methods: Human venous blood samples were collected from patients admitted for ischemic stroke (n=350, ‘patients’) and healthy individuals (n=300, ‘controls’). Blood was genotyped at these loci by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels were measured by routine enzymatic, masking, and turbidimetry methods.

Results: As expected, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein were all significantly higher in patients than in controls (p<0.05). Genotype and allele frequencies of ITGA2 C807T were significantly different between patients and controls (p<0.05), but no difference was detected in genotype or allele frequencies for ITGA3 T176C. For ITGA-2, the T allele conferred a 1.226 times higher relative risk of ischemic stroke than the C allele (odds ratio=1.226, 95% confidence interval=1.053–1.428). Similarly, total cholesterol was higher in T allele carriers than in non-carriers (p<0.05).

Conclusion: ITGA2 C807T polymorphism is associated with ischemic stroke, with the T allele acting as a susceptibility allele that appears to confer increased cholesterol levels.