Association of polymophisms of renin-angiotensin and hemostasis system genes with ischemic stroke in Russians from central Russia

The allele and genotype frequencies of 14 SNPs of renin-angiotensin (REN, AGT, AGTR1, AGTR2, BKR2, and ADRB2) and hemostasis (FGB, F2, F5, F7, ITGB3, SERPINE1, MTHFR) system genes, as well as of the ACE insertion-deletion polymorphism, were analyzed in patients with ischemic stroke and in healthy controls matched by age, sex, and ethnicity. Genotyping was performed through the amplification of the selected gene sequences and subsequent hybridization of the labeled fragments with SNP-specific DNA probes on the biochip. There were no significant differences in the allele frequencies of individual genes between the groups of stroke patients and healthy donors. The contribution of the renin-angiotensin and hemostasis system genes to the genetic susceptibility to ischemic stroke in Russians from central Russia was also assessed using the MDR (Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction) approach. The genotype combination FGB G/- x ACE I/- x MTHFR C/- x SERPINE1 5G/5G, the frequency of which was significantly higher in patients with stroke than in healthy controls, was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke (P = 0.03, OR = 2.4, 95%CI 1.1–5.3).