Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Genotypes and Haplotypes Contribute to the Susceptibility of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether VEGF polymorphisms (-460T/C, +405G/C, and +936C/T)/haplotypes influence the susceptibility of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHOD: A prospective case-control study was conducted to evaluate the genetic effects of VEGF polymorphisms on the development of OSA. 150 patients and 225 healthy controls were recruited for this study and their genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by logistic regression analysis. RESULT: Our study showed that the -460C allele (C vs. T: OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.38–2.76) and +936T allele (T vs. C: OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.02–2.15) were associated with an increased OSA risk, whereas +405C allele was associated with a decreased susceptibility to OSA (C vs. G: OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.45–0.83). Compared with the most common haplotype CCT, CGC (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.19–4.13) and TGC (OR = 3.83, 95% CI = 1.56–9.40) were associated with a significantly increased risk of OSA. CONCLUSION: These observations implied that VEGF gene polymorphisms might be associated with the susceptibility to OSA. These results need to be validated by other independent studies, especially in diverse ethnic populations.