Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms in non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
BACKGROUND
To examine the association between the polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene and the occurrence of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).


METHODS
We studied 15 patients with NAION (mean age, 62 years; 60% male). We investigated two polymorphisms of the eNOS gene, Glu298Asp polymorphism of exon 7 and T(-786)C polymorphism of the promoter region. The genotype distribution in NAION was compared with the control (mean age, 63 years; 63% male) distribution.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution of the Glu298Asp polymorphism between the NAION and control groups (P = 1.000), whereas the genotype dis-tribution of the T(-786)C polymorphism varied significantly between the patients with NAION and control subjects (P = 0.002). After adjusting on covariates, individuals with the CC genotype of the T(-786)C polymorphism were more likely to develop NAION compared with those with TT genotype (odds ratio = 0.09: 95% CI 0.01-0.86).


CONCLUSIONS
We found an increased prevalence of T(-786)C polymorphism of the eNOS gene in patients with NAION. Our data suggest that the T(-786)C polymorphism of the eNOS gene may be an important risk factor in the development of NAION in Japanese subjects.
Sakai
Tsutomu
T
Department of Ophthalmology, Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-8461, Japan. tstmski@jikei.ac.jp
Shikishima
Keigo
K
Matsushima
Masato
M
Kitahara
Kenji
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000235:genetics*; D018917:Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
C496314:NOS3 protein, human; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III