BACKGROUND: Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Studies have reported that inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene –251 A/T (rs4073) polymorphism is correlated with CAD susceptibility, but the result remains controversial. The objective of this study was to clarify the association between IL-8 gene –251 A/T polymorphism and CAD risk.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A meta-analysis included 8244 patients from 9 individual studies with 10 populations was conducted. Heterogeneity test was conducted, and pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated used fixed-effect or random-effects model accordingly. Publication bias was evaluated with the Begg’s funnel plot and Egger’s test. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted.

RESULTS: A significant association between IL-8 gene –251 A/T polymorphism and CAD risk was found in the dominant model (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.16–1.76, P<0.001), recessive model (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.12–1.52, P<0.001), allelic model (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.12–1.47, P<0.001), homozygote model (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.21–2.08, P<0.001), and heterozygote model (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.11–1.64, P=0.002). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity found significant associations in the Chinese population in the dominant model(OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.26–1.61, P<0.001), recessive model (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.21–1.59, P<0.001), allelic model (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.21–1.42, P<0.001), homozygote model (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.41–1.95, P<0.001), and heterozygote model (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.18–1.52, P<0.001), but no significant association was found in the Caucasian population. No significant publication bias was found.

CONCLUSIONS: The IL-8 gene –251 A/T polymorphism was significantly associated with CAD risk in the Chinese population but not in the Caucasian population, –251 A allele carrier had an increased risk of CAD in the Chinese population.

Keywords: Coronary Artery Disease, genetic variation, Interleukin-8, Alleles, Asians, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Odds Ratio, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Whites