Polymorphism in Integrin ITGA2 is Associated with Ischemic Stroke and Altered Serum Cholesterol in Chinese Individuals

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.