Association of a 27-bp repeat polymorphism in ecNOS gene with ischemic stroke in Chinese patients

Objective: To investigate the association between a 27-bp repeat polymorphism of the ecNOS gene in 364 patients with ischemic stroke and 516 control subjects. Background: The incidence of stroke in China is higher than that of coronary artery disease. Furthermore, ischemic stroke is more prevalent than hemorrhagic stroke. A 27-bp repeat polymorphism in intron 4 of the endothelial constitutive nitric oxide synthase (ecNOS) gene has been reported to associate with coronary artery disease in an Australian population, but no association was found between this polymorphism and ischemic stroke in a Japanese population. Methods: All patients and unrelated control subjects were screened by CT. All participants lived in central China. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent roles of this ecNOS gene polymorphism and covariates in ischemic stroke. Results: These results indicated an association between the ecNOS a allele and ischemic stroke in the Chinese patients studied (7.8 versus 17.0%; OR = 2.44; 95% CI = 1.60 to 3.71,p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The ecNOS a allele in intron 4 may be an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke in the Chinese population studied, especially in those lacking other conventional risk factors.