Heat shock protein polymorphisms provide age-related cataract susceptibility for the population of Northern Iran

•Oxidative stress plays a significant role in cataract formation.•Heat shock proteins have cytoprotective effects against cell death.•This study suggests that HSP7A1B and HSPA1L polymorphisms may be associated with ARC.

Age related cataract (ARC) is one of the common causes of blindness in the world. Oxidative stress plays an important role in cataract formation. Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) is a family of proteins that can expressed in response to a variety of stress stimuli such as reactive oxygen species. HSP70 proteins act as molecular chaperones and play an important role in maintenance of cellular viability. Polymorphisms of HSP70 may affect repair efficiency and thereby lead to the formation of ARC. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association of HSPA1B + 1267A/G and HSPA1L + 2437T/C polymorphisms with the risk of ARC in northern Iran. This study involved 182 patients with ARC and 189 healthy controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocyte. Genotype and allele frequencies were determined in patients and controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. We found that HSPA1B + 1267A/G genotype frequency was significantly different between patients with ARC and controls (P ˂ 0.05). The HSPA1B GG genotype was associated with increased ARC risk (OR = 3.39, 95% CI = 1.73-6.64; P = 0.0004). The HSPA1L + 2437 TT genotype showed an association with risk of ARC in men (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.006-3.95, P = 0.048). Based on these data, it is suggested that HSPA1B + 1267A/G and HSPA1L + 2437T/C polymorphisms can be associated with ARC in northern Iran. However, further studies with larger subject numbers should be performed to confirm and expanded our result.