Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) longer alleles spanning the promoter region may confer protection to bilateral Meniere's disease.

CONCLUSION The longer alleles (CA)17-20 of the promoter region of PARP-1 gene may confer some protection against bilateral Meniere's disease (BMD). OBJECTIVE To analyze microsatellite (CA)(n) polymorphisms in the promoter region of PARP-1 gene and seek out risk and protective variants for BMD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Eighty patients from two ethnically defined groups with definite BMD, according to the diagnostic scale of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, were compared with a group of 371 normal controls from the same origin in a prospective multicenter study. We developed a specific amplification protocol to determine the PARP1-promotor CA microsatellite polymorphisms. RESULTS We found that the longer alleles (CA)17-20 had a very low frequency in BMD (2/160, 1.3%, OR=7.33 (1.77-30.37, 95% CI), corrected p=0.012), suggesting that it may confer some protection against BMD.