BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene are reportedly associated with myocardial infarction (MI) risk. However, definitive evidence of this association is lacking. In this study, we investigated the potential association of eNOS gene polymorphisms with MI risk by conducting a meta-analysis of studies evaluating this association.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang, and Database of Chinese Scientific and Technical Periodicals (VIP) were searched for relevant studies. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the association of eNOS gene T-786C and 4b4a polymorphisms with MI risk.

RESULTS: Fifteen studies with 8,067 controls and 4,923 MI cases were included in the final meta-analysis. In the overall analysis, T-786C (rs2070744) polymorphism was associated with MI risk (p<0.05, OR=1.69, 95% CI: 1.53–1.86 for T vs. C; p<0.05, OR=2.76, 95% CI: 2.03–3.75 for TT vs. CC; p<0.05, OR=1.74, 95% CI 1.56–1.95 for TT vs. (CT + CC); p<0.05, OR=2.43, 95% CI: 1.79–3.30 for (CT + TT) vs. CC). In addition, a significant association between 4b4a VNTR polymorphism and MI risk was observed. On sub-group analyses by ethnicity, a significant increase in MI risk was observed separately for Asian and Caucasian populations for T-786C polymorphism, but not for the 4b4a polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS: In this meta-analysis, T-786C polymorphism of the eNOS gene was associated with the risk of MI, especially in the Asian populations.

Keywords: Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide