Lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1, monocyte count and risk of myocardial infarction

Abstract

Environmental risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI) have been widely studied, yet the genetic risks associated with its development, although known to be present, are still not clearly defined. An association between atherosclerosis, MI and different blood parameter counts is known to exist. In this case-control study the influence of the rs551517 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on blood parameter counts and incidence of MI was tested. Blood samples of cases with MI and age- and gender-matched controls from the Maltese population were used to measure blood parameter counts and for genotyping of the SNP. The rs551517 polymorphism was not associated with a risk of MI since OR for the homozygous mutant genotype was 0.9 (95% CI 0.5-1.4) and that for the heterozygous genotype was 1.2 (95% CI 0.9-1.6) when adjusting for age and gender. A risk for MI however was observed in smokers where the heterozygous genotype may have a 2-fold risk of MI, a risk not observed in non-smokers. When measuring the effect of the SNP on blood parameter counts, variations between genotypes were observed for white blood cells (WBC), platelet, eosinophil, reticulocyte and lymphocyte count. No effect of the rs551517 SNP on monocyte count was observed. This led to the conclusion that the rs551517 polymorphism is unlikely to have an effect on incidence of MI without the risk factor of smoking while an effect on a number of blood cell and platelet counts was observed.