Relationship between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms and the risk of myocardial infarction in the Algerian population

Introduction: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), the enzyme in charge of nitric oxide production, plays a crucial role in vascular biology. However, the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affecting the gene encoding for eNOS (eNOS) on coronary artery diseases remains under debate and no data were available at present in populations originating from Mahghreb.Aim of the Study: Our purpose was to evaluate the association between the eNOS -786T/C and +894G/T SNPs and (i) the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and (ii) variations in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure values.Patients and Methods: Concerning MI, the SNPs were characterised in a casecontrol study (70 cases vs 68 controls) based on the male population originating from Oran, Algeria.Results: The associations with blood pressure values were assessed in anenlarged control group including 115 male subjects. Since the -786T/CSNP could not be associated to MI, the genotype distribution of the+894G/T genotypes signifi cantly differed between MI cases and controls(p=0.025). The risk of MI (odds ratio) associated to the +894G/T SNP wasestimated to 1.2 (95%CI=[1.03;1.32]). The haplotype analysis confi rmedthis association and the absence of impact of the -786T/C SNP. On the other hand, no consistent association was shown between the two SNPs and SBP or DBP.Conclusion: As observed in other populations, the eNOS +894G/T SNPwas associated with MI in the Algerian population but the mechanismunderlying the effect could not be related to variations in blood pressure.Keywords: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase, myocardial infarction, blood pressure, genetic epidemiology