Association between platelet glycoprotein Ibalpha genotype and ischemic cerebrovascular disease.
OBJECTIVE
Platelets play pivotal roles in the development of ischemic cerebrovascular disease (CVD). The platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib/IX/V complex is a receptor for von Willebrand factor, which plays a major role in the initial phase of platelet activation under high shear stress conditions. This study was designed to investigate the association between a genetic variation of this receptor and the prevalence of CVD.


METHODS
Two hundred patients with ischemic CVD, as confirmed by brain CT and/or MRI, and 317 age- and sex-matched control subjects without clinical evidence of CVD or cardiovascular disease were analyzed for their genotype frequencies of the (145)Thr/Met dimorphism of the alpha-chain of GPIb (GPIbalpha).


RESULTS
Genotypes with (145)Met (T/M and M/M) were more frequently found in the CVD patients (26.5%) than in control subjects (14.2%, P=0.0005). The genotype effect was more obvious in those <60 years of age or without acquired cardiovascular risk factors. The odds ratio for nonsmoking women <60 years of age was 10. 6 (95% confidence intervals, 2.2 to 51.7). Although the number of patients studied was small (n=24), transient ischemic attack showed the highest odds ratio (4.3, P=0.0004), followed by lacunar infarction (OR=2.2, P=0.0024) and atherothrombotic infarction (OR=1. 5, P=0.3143). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of Met-allele was independently associated with CVD.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that the platelet GPIbalpha genotype is a genetic risk factor for ischemic CVD.
Sonoda
A
A
Departments of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Murata
M
M
Ito
D
D
Tanahashi
N
N
Ohta
A
A
Tada
Y
Y
Takeshita
E
E
Yoshida
T
T
Saito
I
I
Yamamoto
M
M
Ikeda
Y
Y
Fukuuchi
Y
Y
Watanabe
K
K
D000483:Alleles; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019038:Platelet Glycoprotein GPIb-IX Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors
D019038:Platelet Glycoprotein GPIb-IX Complex