The pathogenesis of congenital heart disease (CHD) is unclear. There is a high incidence of CHD in Down syndrome, in which RCAN1 (regulator of calcineurin 1) overexpression is observed. However, whether RCAN1 plays an important role in non-syndromic CHD is unknown. This study investigates the relationship between sequence variations in the RCAN1 promoter and sporadic CHD. This was a case-control study in which the RCAN1 promoter was cloned and sequenced in 128 CHD patients (median age 1.1 year) and 150 normal controls (median age 3.0 year). No mutation sites had been identified in this research. Three single-nucleotide (C to T) polymorphisms were detected: rs193289374, rs149048873 and rs143081213. The polymorphisms were not associated with CHD risk according to a logistic regression analysis. Functional assays in vitro showed that compared with the wild-type genotype, the rs149048873 polymorphism decreased, and the rs143081213 increased, the RCAN1 promoter activity, though the rs193289374 polymorphism had no effect. In conclusion, the sequence variations in RCAN1 promoter are not major genetic factors involved in sporadic CHD, at least in the current research population.
Keywords: Congenital heart disease; Down syndrome; Mutation; Polymorphism; Promoter; RCAN1.