Lipoprotein lipase Ser447Ter polymorphism associated with the risk of ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis

Introduction: Previous studies suggested lipoprotein lipase (LPL) Ser447Ter and Asn291Ser polymorphisms were associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease, however, their effects on ischemic stroke were controversial. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the associations between these two LPL polymorphisms and the risk of ischemic stroke.

Methods: The electronic databases PubMed and Embase were used to identify relevant studies by two interviews independently. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated for the risk of ischemic stroke and the plasma lipids in various Ser447Ter genotypes respectively. A fixed or random effect model was selected for pooling data based on homogeneity test.

Results: 13 studies including 4,681 ischemic stroke cases and 8,516 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, LPL Ter447 variant was associated with a significantly reduced risk for ischemic stroke (OR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.68-0.93) both in Caucasian (OR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.77-0.97) and East-Asian (OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.43-0.99), whereas no significant association of Ser291 variant was observed (OR=1.25, 95% CI: 0.96-1.63). The Ser447Ter polymorphism may be more important in association with the decreased risk of atherosclerotic stroke (OR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.32-0.62) which derived from significantly increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol, decreased triglyceride and total cholesterol in Ter447 carriers compared with non-carriers.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that LPL Ser447Ter polymorphism was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke, especially atherosclerotic stroke subtype in both Caucasian and East-Asian.