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

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-Arg753Gln, TLR4-Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile gene and CAD. The study population consisted of 300 subjects (149 men, 151 women) distributed in two groups: 150 patients with angiographically documented CAD (stenosis > 50% in at least one major coronary artery) and 150 control subjects with strictly normal coronary angiograms. The polymorphisms were genotyped by real time PCR. No association between TLR4 Asp299Gly or Thr399Ile gene polymorphisms and the presence or the severity of CAD was observed. On the other hand, the TLR2-Arg753Gln genotype seemed to have a protective effect against the development of CAD (OR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.04–0.83). Our findings suggest that TLR2-Arg753Gln polymorphism is associated with CAD susceptibility in Turkish patients.