Analysis of an Association between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms
of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene and Risk of Cerebral
White Matter Lesion

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 30(3); 2012 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2012;30(3): 182-189.

혈관내피성장인자유전자 단일뉴클레오티드다형태와 대뇌백질변성 위험성의 연관성분석

박소영, 김미화 안세아 김남근 a 김옥준 오승헌

CHA 의과학대학교 신경과학교실, 임상의학연구소 a

Analysis of an Association between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene and Risk of Cerebral White Matter Lesion

So-Young Park

Department of Neurology, CHA University and The Institute for Clinical Research , Seongnam, Korea

Abstract

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is suggested to be one of the pathogenesis of cerebral white matter lesion (cWML). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a crucial role in angiogenesis and integrity of vascular endothelial cell, and altered expression of VEGF gene induces vascular diseases including cerebrovascular diseases. The objective of this study is to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of VEGF gene confers an increased risk of cWML.
Methods: Total 337 study subjects without history of stroke were included. The presence and severity of cWML were measured on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image. Genotypes of VEGF -2578G>A, -1154G>A, -634G>C and +936C>T were analyzed.
Results: Among 337 study subjects, cWML was found in 208 patients (62%), and fifty-eight cases (17%) of them had overt cWML. In univariate analysis, age, female sex and plasma total homocysteine level (tHcyt) were higher in the mild and overt cWML group than no cWML group (p<0.05). The percentage of previous history of hypertension and the value of systolic blood pressure were higher in overt cWML group than no cWML group. In univariate and logistic regression analysis, none of four tested VEGF SNPs was significantly different between control group, mild and overt cWML groups. There was no difference between plasma tHcyt levels and each VEGF SNPs in control group and cWML groups.
Conclusions: In this study, old age, female sex, hypertension and plasma tHcyt were associated with cWML. However, we failed to find an association between cWML and VEGF gene polymorphism, which may indicate that genetic polymorphism of VEGF does not play a direct role in the pathogenesis of cWML. Key Words: Cerebral white matter lesion, Polymorphism, Vascular endothelial growth factor