Association between VEGF polymorphisms (−460 T/C and +936 C/T) and retinopathy of prematurity risk: A meta-analysis

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) contributes to the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). A number of studies investigated the association of ROP with VEGF −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphisms but the results were conflicting. In order to derive a more precise estimation of the associations, we performed a meta-analysis of the relationship between VEGF −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphisms with ROP in all published studies. METHODS: A literature search was performed systematically using electronic databases. Published literature from PubMed and other databases was retrieved. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the pooled effect. Each −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphism included four case-control studies including case/control 249/308 and 179/250 respectively. RESULTS: Through literature search, we found that both VEGF −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphisms were not associated with ROP risk at allelic, co-dominant, dominant and recessive models. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that the VEGF −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphism might contribute to genetic susceptibility of ROP. The association between VEGF −460 T/C and +936 C/T polymorphism and ROP risk awaits further investigation.