Interrelationships between ALOX5AP Polymorphisms, Serum Leukotriene B4 Level and Risk of Acute Coronary Syndrome

BACKGROUND: We investigated the relationships between the ALOX5AP gene rs10507391 and rs4769874 polymorphisms, serum levels of leukotriene (LT) B4, and risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: A total of 709 participants, comprising 508 ACS patients (ACS group) and 201 noncoronary artery disease patients with chest pain (control group) were recruited from the Han population of the Changwu region in China. Two polymorphic loci were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Serum LTB4 level was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Serum LTB4 levels were significantly higher (P<0.001) in the ACS group (median/interquartile range, 470.27/316.32 pg/ml) than in the control group (233.05/226.82 pg/ml). No statistical differences were observed between genotype, allele and haplotype frequencies for the tested loci in either the ACS group or the control group, even after adjustments were made for conventional risk factors by multivariate logistic regression. This suggests there is no association between the ALOX5AP rs10507391 and rs4769874 polymorphisms and ACS risk. Elevated serum LTB4 level was closely linked to ACS risk, and may be independent of traditional risk factors as a risk factor for ACS (P<0.001). There was no significant association between serum LTB4 levels and the two variants in either the ACS group or the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Rs10507391, rs4769874 and its haplotypes in ALOX5AP are unrelated to ACS risk in the Chinese Han population of Changwu, but elevated serum LTB4 level is strongly associated with ACS risk. Serum LTB4 level is not subject to the influence of either the rs10507391, rs4769874 or the haplotype.