title: Shorter GT repeats in the heme oxygenase-1 gene promoter are associated with a lower severity score in coronary artery disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The glutathione thymidine repeats [(GT)n] of the heme oxygenase (HO)-1 gene promoter have been shown to be correlated with the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD), patients with shorter repeats being less likely to have CAD. In this study, we investigated whether (GT)n repeats in the HO-1 promoter were related to a quantitative angiographic severity of CAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The allele frequency of the HO-1 gene promoter (GT)n repeats was examined in CAD patients with de novo lesions (n = 328). Patients' baseline coronary severity was quantified using the Jeopardy scoring system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The allele frequency of GT repeats in the HO-1 gene promoter had bimodal peaks at (GT)23 and (GT)30. Therefore, we defined allele classes as follows: S allele (<23 repeats), M allele (23-29 repeats), and L allele (≥ 30 repeats). The group with severe CAD (Jeopardy score ≥ 8) had a significantly lower frequency of the S allele (3.7% vs. 8.9%; p = 0.042) than the group with moderate CAD (Jeopardy score <8). None of the patient with the highest score of 12 (n = 17) carried the class S allele. In a multivariate binary logistic analysis, being a carrier of shorter GT repeats was a significant negative predictor (odds ratio 0.393; p = 0.024) of a higher Jeopardy score grade of CAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that shorter (GT)n repeat in the HO-1 gene promoter were associated with a lower Jeopardy severity score in patients with significant CAD.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Kae-Woei
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Wayne H-H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Sheu
authors.forename: Wen-Lieng
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: I-Te
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shih-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chih-Tai
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: Wen-Jane
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: C496541:HMOX1 protein, human; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1