Genetic variation of the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 gene in carotid atherosclerosis

Pär Wanby (1) , Petter Palmquist (1) , Lars Brudin (2) , Martin Carlsson (3)

1 Department of Internal Medicine
2 Department of Clinical Physiology
3 Department of Clinical Chemistry

The alanine (A) to threonine (T) substitution at codon 54 of the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 (FABP2) has been associated with dyslipidaemia and other characteristics of the metabolic syndrome, which in turn is a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the A54T polymorphism in the FABP2 gene is associated with internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis in stroke patients. Swedish subjects initially diagnosed with acute cerebrovascular disease (n = 196) that had been assessed with ultrasound of the carotid arteries were identified and grouped depending on whether a stenosis was found. The subjects were genotyped for the A54T polymorphism using a PCR-RFLP method. In a multivariate logistic-regression analysis, where known risk factors for atherosclerosis were fixed (diabetes, systolic blood pressure, age and smoking), having the FABP2 T allele was a significant risk factor for ICA stenosis (odds ratio 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-7.7; = 0.04) together with diabetes (odds ratio 4.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-14; < 0.01). Age, smoking and blood pressure did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, our result supports the hypothesis that the FABP2 A54T polymorphism is associated with ICA stenosis.

Mots clés: carotid atherosclerosis; FABP2; genetics; polymorphism

Pär Wanby, Petter Palmquist, Lars Brudin, Martin Carlsson. Genetic variation of the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 gene in carotid atherosclerosis. Vascular Medicine, 2005, 10 (2), pp.103-108. ⟨10.1191/1358863x05vm609oa⟩. ⟨hal-00572125⟩