The -589C>T polymorphism in the interleukin-4 gene (IL-4) is associated with a reduced risk of myocardial infarction in young individuals.
BACKGROUND
Inflammatory reactions contribute to the development of arterial disease. We investigated the role of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in the development of myocardial infarction (MI) by genotyping patients with MI and control subjects for the -589C>T (rs2243250) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which tags a functional haplotype of IL-4.


RESULTS
Study of Myocardial Infarctions Leiden (SMILE) included 560 men with a first MI and 646 control subjects. The Valencia study included 305 patients with MI at <or=52 years (men and women) and 310 control subjects. In SMILE no clear overall association with the -589C>T genotype was found [odds ratio (OR) 0.84; 95% CI 0.37-1.95 for -589TT and 0.82; 95% CI 0.62-1.07 for -589CT compared with -589CC]. In patients younger than 50 years, carriership of one or two -589T alleles was associated with a reduced risk of MI (OR 0.57: 95% CI 0.34-0.95). This result was replicated in the Valencia study, where carriers of one or two -589T alleles had a reduced risk of MI (OR 0.67: 95% CI 0.47-0.95), with a strong protective effect of the -598T allele in homozygous -589T (OR 0.33: 95% CI 0.10-1.05). In the control subjects of the Valencia study, the -589T allele was associated with reduced levels of F1+2.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate that the IL-4 haplotype tagged by the -589T allele reduces the risk of MI in young individuals.
Paffen
E
E
Department of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Medina
P
P
de Visser
M C H
MC
van Wijngaarden
A
A
Zorio
E
E
Estellés
A
A
Rosendaal
F R
FR
España
F
F
Bertina
R M
RM
Doggen
C J M
CJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012306:Risk
D015847:Interleukin-4