Association between polymorphisms in microRNAs and ischemic stroke in an Asian population: evidence based on 6,083 cases and 7,248 controls

Donghua Zou,1,* Chunbin Liu,1,* Qian Zhang,1 Xianfeng Li,1 Gang Qin,1 Qi Huang,1 Youshi Meng,1 Li Chen,2 Jinru Wei1 1Department of Stroke Center, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Polymorphisms in miR-146a (rs2910164), miR-196a2 (rs11614913), miR-149 (rs2292832) and miR-499 (rs3746444) have been associated with ischemic stroke (IS), but studies have given inconsistent results. Methods: This meta-analysis investigated the possible association between IS risk and the four polymorphisms. A total of 14 case-control studies from Asian populations involving 6,083 cases and 7,248 controls for the four polymorphisms were included.Results: Results showed that the GG genotype of miR-146a (rs2910164) may be associated with increased IS risk according to the recessive model (OR=1.20, 95% CI=1.02-1.42, P=0.03). Similarly, the CC genotype of miR-149 (rs2292832) may be associated with increased IS risk according to the recessive model (OR=1.28, 95% CI=1.08-1.52, P=0.005) and the homozygous model (OR=1.31, 95% CI=1.09-1.58, P=0.004). In contrast, miR-196a2 (rs11614913) and miR-499 (rs3746444) polymorphisms did not show significant association with IS risk in any of the five genetic models.Conclusion: These results indicate that the GG genotype of miR-146a (rs2910164) and CC genotype of miR-149 (rs2292832) may confer increased susceptibility to IS, while miR-196a2 (rs11614913) and miR-499 (rs3746444) polymorphisms may not be associated with IS risk in Asian populations. These conclusions should be verified in large and well-designed studies. Keywords: miRNAs, polymorphism, ischemic stroke, meta-analysi