Interferon Gamma Polymorphism and Expression Relationship with Severity of Coronary Artery Disease in Golestan, Iran

Background: The Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs as a result of atherosclerotic plaque formation. The interferon gamma (IFNgamma) as a multifunctional cytokine is involved in inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis. Objectives: We investigated the relationship between IFNgamma (+874T/A) SNP with CAD. Moreover, we compared IFNgamma mRNA expression in CAD patients and healthy controls. Patients and Methods: This case-control study with randomized sampling included 300 patients with CAD and 301 normal controls. The SSP-PCR method was used for genotyping IFNgamma (+874T/A) gene polymorphism. Quantitative Real-Time PCR was performed to measure IFNgamma mRNA expression. All data was analyzed by GraphPad software. The chi-square and ordinal logistic regression tests were used to analyze differences in genotype frequencies. Results: In this study, there was a significant association between male genders with CAD (P < 0.001). There was a significant association between genotype T/T and Allele T of IFNgamma (+874T/A) polymorphism with CAD (P = 0.021 and P = 0.022, respectively). The inheritance model analysis showed that two copy of allele T is required for increased risk in CAD (P = 0.031). There was a significant association between the genotype T/T of IFNgamma (+874T/A) polymorphism with CAD patients with double and triple vessel disease (P = 0.030 and P = 0.013, respectively). The IFNgamma mRNA level in CAD group was significantly higher than control group (P = 0.024). Conclusions: Conclusions: IFNgamma gene functional polymorphism can be associated with incidence and severity of CAD. IFNgamma mRNA level was also increased in CAD patients in comparison with controls. Therefore, IFNgamma may play a role in predisposition to CAD.