Interleukin 6 (rs1800795) gene polymorphism is associated with cardiovascular diseases: a meta-analysis of 74 studies with 86,229 subjects

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are group of complex and multifactorial pathologies, in which interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene polymorphisms have been associated with several components of the CVD. Thus, in this study, we thoroughly reviewed and meta-analyzed evidence on the association between the IL-6 (rs1800795) gene polymorphism and CVD. We systematically searched in the PubMed, Web of Sciences, and Scopus databases. The analyses were performed using five study groups based on (1) a combined pool of the overall populations, (2) the country of birth, (3) the continent of birth, (4) the diagnosis and (5) both location (country or continent) and diagnosis. The analysis included the allelic, homozygote, heterozygote, dominant and recessive models. The meta-analysis showed that -174G>C (rs1800795) is a risk factor for CVD (allelic: OR=1.06, CI 95%=1.02-1.10. Z p value <0.0001; homozygous: OR=1.11, CI 95%=1.03-1.19, Z p value= 0.002; heterozygous: OR=1.08, CI 95%=1.03-1.21, Z p value= 0.003; dominant: OR= 1.12, CI 95%= 1.07-1.18, Z p value= 0.001) and that this risk increases in the Chinese population. Additionally, we found that carriers of the C allele of 174G>C (rs1800795) polymorphism have an increase in the risk of coronary artery disease under the hereditary models assessed in the study. Using robust data, we found that IL-6 (rs1800795) -174G>C gene polymorphism is associated with CVD risk.