Association between Beta-Fibrinogen C148T Gene Polymorphism and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in a North Indian Population: A Case-Control Study

Background and purpose: Stroke is a multifactorial disease influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this case-control study was to determine the association between β-fibrinogen C148T (rs1800787) gene polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke (IS) in a North Indian population.

Methods: In the present case-control study, genotyping was performed using the PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) method on 250 IS patients and 250 age- and sex-matched controls. Frequency distributions of genotypes and alleles were compared between the cases and controls by conditional logistic regression.

Results: Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, low socioeconomic status, and family history of stroke were found to be independent risk factors for IS. The mean age of the cases and controls was 52.83 ± 12.59 and 50.97 ± 12.70 years, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed an independent association between β-fibrinogen C148T (rs1800787) polymorphism and risk of IS in dominant (OR = 2.19; 95% CI 1.23-3.90; p = 0.007) and allelic (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.19-2.33; p = 0.002) models. Based on the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classification, an independent association of small vessel disease with risk of IS was observed in the dominant (OR = 2.09; 95% CI 1.10-3.96; p = 0.02) and allelic (OR = 1.75; 95% CI 1.12-2.75; p = 0.01) models, and a significant association of cardioembolic stroke with risk of IS was seen in the allelic model (OR = 2.11; 95% CI 1.07-4.17; p = 0.02). All the genotype frequencies observed were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both cases and controls.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that polymorphism in the C148T position of the β-fibrinogen gene might be a risk factor for IS mainly for the small vessel disease stroke subtype in a North Indian population. Further, large prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.