Genetic analysis of RNF213 p.R4810K variant in non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease in a Chinese population

OBJECTIVES RNF213 p.R4810K was identified as a susceptibility variant for moyamoya disease in Asia and non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease in Japan and Korea recently. The occurrence of this variant was evaluated in patients with non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease in China. METHODS Two study populations were used in this study. One was recruited from the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from April 2015 to May 2016. The other was the archived DNA samples of intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion patients in XiangYa Hospital collected in 2014. The occurrence of RNF213 p.R4810K was investigated in a total of 715 patients with non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease. The carrier rate of RNF213 p.R4810K in 507 normal individuals was used as control. RESULTS Six of 715 patients (0.84%) with non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease and 2 of the 507 normal controls (0.39%) had RNF213 p.R4810K variant. The carrier rate of RNF213 p.R4810K was higher in non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion group than that in the normal group. However, no statistically significant association was observed (Odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-10.63; p = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS The carrier rate of RNF213 p.R4810K in Chinese non-moyamoya intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease patients was significantly lower than that in Korea or Japan. Genetic heterogeneity was highly indicated. Further systematic genetic epidemiology studies with emphasis on Chinese-specific genetic variants and environmental risk factors of intracranial artery stenosis/occlusion disease in larger population are needed.