Abstract
Background: Coronary Artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelet activation and aggregation play a crucial role in the process of arterial thrombosis; the main pathogenesis of the disease. The major membrane protein on platelet is integrin aIIbb3 which mediates this response by rapidly transiting from its resting to an activated state in which it serves as a receptor for ligands that can bridge platelets together.
Aim of Study: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between Platelet Antigen 1/Platelet Antigen 2 (PlA1/A2) polymorphism of ITGB3 gene and CAD.
Patients and Methods: The study was conducted on 55 CAD patients in addition to 55 age-and sex-matched healthy subjects serving as a healthy control group. Patients were subdivided into three subgroups according to the degree of disease severity based on the number of occluded coronary blood vessels as seen by the coronary angiography (subgroup Ia: Patients with one-vessel occlusion, subgroup Ib: Patients with two-vessel occlusion and subgroup Ic: Patients with three-or more-vessel occlusion). Determination of the PlA1/A2 polymorphism of ITGB3 gene was carried out using Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphis-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RFLP-PCR).
Results: The results of the present study revealed that PlA1/PlA2 genotype and PlA2 allele were more frequent in CAD patients as compared to controls; however such difference in frequency was not statistically significant. No significant difference was detected between the genotype distributions among the different degrees of CAD severity. Moreover, no significant difference was found between both genotypes as regards the presence of risk factors. Finally, the heterozygous genotype PlA1/PlA2 was associated with male sex and in-creased total cholesterol level.
Conclusion: PlA1/PlA2 polymorphism of ITGB3 gene failed to prove any association with CAD.