Relationship between two estrogen receptor-α gene polymorphisms and angiographic coronary artery disease

Ob-jec-ti-ve: To investigate the association of estrogen receptor-α PvuII and BtgI polymorphisms with angiographic presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods: Our cross-sectional study included 140 patients with ≥50% coronary stenoses (CAD group) and 47 patients with normal angiograms (CAD-free group) (total n=187, age 59.6±13.2 years; 66 women). PvuII and BtgI genotype and allele distributions were determined by standard method of polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The CAD subgroups by the number of diseased vessels were also defined. Variable associations and group differences were analyzed by independent t test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's Chi-square (χ2), Spearman’s correlation tests and logistic regression analyses. Results: While there was no association between PvuII polymorphism and angiographic CAD (p=0.384), BtgI polymorphism was more prevalent in CAD-free group (23.4% vs. 10% (CAD group), OR=2.75, 95% CI=1.150 to 6.579, p=0.019). This difference was more pronounced in women (28.6% vs. 4.4%; OR=8.6; 95% CI=1.564 to 47.303; p=0.005) compared to men (p=0.391). Logistic regression analysis confirmed BtgI polymorphism as the most important predictor for a normal coronary angiogram among parameters such as body mass index, diabetes and age (OR 8.13, 95% CI 1.257 to 52.627, p=0.028). However, no significant association between BtgI polymorphism and the number of stenotic arteries was detected. Conclusion: ESR1 PvuII polymorphism is not associated with angiographically significant CAD. ESR1 BtgI polymorphism is strongly associated with the presence of normal coronary angiograms in women, which suggests protective effect. Further confirmation of these findings is required.