Effects of NRG1 Polymorphisms on Hirschsprung’s Disease Susceptibility: A Meta-analysis

Substantial resources have been devoted to evaluate the relationship between NRG1 variants rs7835688 and rs16879552 and Hirschsprung’s Disease (HSCR) but no consistency exists. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the association between the two SNPs and HSCR. PubMed, EMBASE, and Chinese Biological Medicine databases were searched for studies potentially eligible up to March, 2017. The summary odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated from different genetic models. Nine case-control studies (8 for both and 1 for rs16879552 only) involving 1984 HSCR patients and 4220 controls were identified. The combined results showed a significant association between HSCR risk and rs7835688 in all genetic models (per-allele model: OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.35–2.05; P = 1.940E-06). Rs16879552 was significantly associated with HSCR in per-allele (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.27–1.76; P = 1.087E-06), additive and recessive model, except for dominant model. Stratified analysis by ethnicity showed that rs7835688 and rs16879552 were only causative for Asians, but not risk locus for Caucasians. Furthermore, pooled data based on segment length indicated that individuals with rs7835688 experienced a significantly higher risk for short-segment HSCR in all genotypes; but rs16879552 was only found to be associated with long-segment HSCR/ total colonic aganglionosis at the allele level.