-174G/C Polymorphism Of Interleukin-6 Gene And Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the -174G/C polymorphism of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene and ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) in Chinese patients, we conducted a case-control study.Methods: 112 ICVD patients (36 cases of TIA and 76 cases of cerebral infarction) and 105 control subjects were recruited, the -174G/C polymorphism of IL-6 gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The measurement data was analyzed statisticly by t-test and enumeration data by chi-square test.Results: The average age of ICVD group and control group (67.12 ± 9.63 and 66.08 ± 8.62 , respectively) is of no difference (t=0.8, P = 0.424). The average age of TIA group and cerebral infarction group are 67.92 ± 8.32 and 68.23 ±9.58(t=1. 102, P=0.272; t=1.494, P=0.137). The percentage of male between ICVD group, TIA group, cerebral infarction group and control group have no significant difference (P>0.05). The history of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipoidemia and smoking in ICVD group are all higher than control group(P<0.05). The CC+GC genotype frequencies in the ICVD group and control group were 0.157 and 0.051, respectively. The C alleles frequencies in the ICVD group and control group were 0.103 and 0.031. The prevalence of the CC+GC genotype and C alleles were significantly higher in the ICVD patients (x~2==6.828, P=0.009; x~2=4.498, P=0.034). Analysis by ICVD subtypes showed that the CC±GC genotype and C alleles frequencies were of no difference between TIA and controls ( x~ 2=1.809, P = 0.179; x~2 = 0.7, P = 0.403) but were significantly different between cerebral infarction and controls ( x~2 = 1.262, P = 0.007; x~2 = 4.903, P = 0.027) .Conclusions: The -174G/C polymorphism of the IL-6 gene is implicated in the pathogenesis of ICVD and may be a risk factor for ICVD independent of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipoidemia and smoking .