The association of ghrelin polymorphisms with coronary artery disease and ischemic chronic heart failure in an elderly Chinese population

ObjectiveTo investigate the association of coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic heart failure (IHF) with polymorphisms of the ghrelin gene in elderly Chinese patients.Design and methodsFifty-six patients with ischemic heart failure, sixty patients with coronary artery disease without heart failure, and one hundred healthy control subjects participated in the study. The polymorphisms were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, and fragment length polymorphism analysis.ResultsOnly one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), Leu72Met (408C/A), was observed across all samples. Gene frequencies of CC and allele frequencies of C were significantly greater in the CAD with IHF group than those in the CAD without IHF group (p = 0.025, p = 0.011). There was no significant association between the Leu72Met SNP with coronary artery disease risk factors.ConclusionOur results suggest that a C allele at position 408 of the ghrelin gene is associated with genetic susceptibility to ischemic heart failure in Chinese elders.