Association between MDR1 gene polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease in Asian and Caucasian populations: a meta-analysis

• MDR1 gene encodes P-glycoprotein which prevents the entry of toxic substances to the brain.
• Association of MDR1 gene polymorphisms (rs1128503 and rs1045642) with PD susceptibility was examined.
• MDR1 polymorphism SNP rs1128503 (C1236T) showed significant association in both Asian and Caucasian population.
• rs1045642 (C3435T) polymorphism is not be associated with the PD susceptibility.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease, its etiology is largely unknown. Studies demonstrate the association of genetic and environment factors in causing neuronal degeneration. Reports suggest that the multi-drug resistance gene (MDR1) plays a vital role in preventing the toxic substance in entering the brain, which is associated with PD. However, the association between the MDR1 polymorphisms (C1236T and C3435T) and its susceptibility to PD is inconclusive. Meta analysis was carried by retrieving literatures from databases to search the case-control studies on the associations between the MRD1 polymorphisms and PD. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fixed and random model to determine the association between the polymorphisms and PD susceptibility. Significant association was noticed for C1236T polymorphism and PD risk in the recessive model OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.66–0.97. Further, ethnicity based analysis showed significant association for C1236T in allelic model of Asian population and also in the recessive models of both Asian and Caucasian populations. However, insignificant associations were noticed for C3435T in all the four models. Overall, the analysis suggested that MDR1 C1236T polymorphism substantially contribute to Parkinson's disease in the recessive genetic model.