Association between Beta-Fibrinogen C148T Gene Polymorphism and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in a North Indian Population: A Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Stroke is a multifactorial disease influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this case-control study was to determine the association between β-fibrinogen C148T (rs1800787) gene polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke (IS) in a North Indian population. METHODS In the present case-control study, genotyping was performed using the PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) method on 250 IS patients and 250 age- and sex-matched controls. Frequency distributions of genotypes and alleles were compared between the cases and controls by conditional logistic regression. RESULTS Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, low socioeconomic status, and family history of stroke were found to be independent risk factors for IS. The mean age of the cases and controls was 52.83 ± 12.59 and 50.97 ± 12.70 years, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed an independent association between β-fibrinogen C148T (rs1800787) polymorphism and risk of IS in dominant (OR = 2.19; 95% CI 1.23-3.90; p = 0.007) and allelic (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.19-2.33; p = 0.002) models. Based on the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classification, an independent association of small vessel disease with risk of IS was observed in the dominant (OR = 2.09; 95% CI 1.10-3.96; p = 0.02) and allelic (OR = 1.75; 95% CI 1.12-2.75; p = 0.01) models, and a significant association of cardioembolic stroke with risk of IS was seen in the allelic model (OR = 2.11; 95% CI 1.07-4.17; p = 0.02). All the genotype frequencies observed were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both cases and controls. CONCLUSION The findings of the present study suggest that polymorphism in the C148T position of the β-fibrinogen gene might be a risk factor for IS mainly for the small vessel disease stroke subtype in a North Indian population. Further, large prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.