Published online Aug 31, 2000.
https://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2000.30.8.947
The Effects of Plasma Fibrinogen and beta Fibrinogen Gene Polymorphisms on the Development of Coronary Artery Disease
Abstract
Background
Elevated plasma fibrinogen level has been shown to be an independent risk factor of ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease. The aim of this study is to determine the associations of plasma fibrinogen levels, coronary artery disease (CAD), classical vascular risk factors, and genetic polymorphisms at position -455 and C448 of the β-fibrinogen gene.
Methods
We measured the plasma fibrinogen levels and lipid levels in 374 patients with angiographically defined CAD and 290 control patients. The genotypes of β-fibrinogen in randomly selected patients were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism and allele-specific oligomer hybridization.
Results
1) Higher plasma fibrinogen levels were observed in the patients with CAD, especially who had multiple coronary artery atherosclerosis. 2) The plasma fibrinogen levels were higher in smokers, and positively related with age and total cholesterol levels. 3) The two polymorphisms were in tight linkage disequilibrium and the genotype frequencies were similar in patients and control subjects. The significant association between β-455G/A genotype and plasma fibrinogen was noted in females but not in males. 4) In logistic regression model, the elevated plasma fibrinogen was an independent risk factor of CAD.
Conclusion
The present study shows that the plasma fibrinogen level is an independent risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis, and the genetic variants of the β fibrinogen gene are associated with an increased plasma fibrinogen in females.
