The effect of genetic polymorphisms of TLR2 and TLR4 in Turkish patients with coronary artery disease

• TLR gene polymorphisms may be associated with CAD risk.
• TLR2-Arg753Arg genotype seemed to have a protective effect against development of CAD.
• TLR haplotypes are associated with CAD susceptibility.

Coronary artery disease (CAD), being a multifactorial disease process, has been suggested to be associated by the interaction of both environmental and genetic risk factors. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are related to the receptors of the innate immune system which serves as the recognition of the conserved pathogen motifs and the activation of the signals that stimulate inflammatory genes. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the polymorphisms in the TLR2-Arg753Gly, TLR4-Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile gene and CAD. The study population consisted of 300 patients (149 men, 151 women) with angiographically documented CAD. The polymorphisms were genotyped by real time PCR. No association between TLR2-Arg677Trp or TLR4-Asp299Gly and -Thr399Ile gene polymorphisms and the presence or the severity of CAD was observed. On the other hand, the TLR2-Arg753Arg genotype seemed to have a protective effect against development of CAD (OR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.04–0.83). Our findings suggest that TLR2-Arg753Gly polymorphism is associated with CAD susceptibility in Turkish patients.