title: Variation in the promoter region of the beta fibrinogen gene is associated with plasma fibrinogen levels in smokers and non-smokers.
abstract: We investigated the association between fibrinogen levels and a HaeIII restriction fragment length polymorphism located at -453 bp from the start of transcription of the beta fibrinogen gene. 292 healthy men aged 45 to 69 years, recruited from general practices throughout Britain, were studied. None had a history of ischaemic heart disease. 41.1% (120) were smokers and fibrinogen levels were higher in this group. The frequency of the non-cutting allele (designated H2) was 0.19 and was the same in smokers and non-smokers. The H2 allele was associated with elevated levels of fibrinogen in both smokers and non-smokers and the effect of genotype was similar in both groups. After smoking, HaeIII genotype was the strongest predictor of fibrinogen levels and explained 3.1% of the variance in fibrinogen levels. These results confirm earlier studies that variation at the fibrinogen locus contributes to the between-individual differences in plasma fibrinogen level.
authors.affiliation: Arterial Disease Research Unit, Charing Cross Sunley Research Centre, Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kelleher
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wilkes
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Meade
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Humphries
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012016:Reference Values; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005340:Fibrinogen