Abstract

Necla Benlier*, Mustafa Erdogan, Mehtap

The ATP- sensitive potassium (KATP) channels are generally cardioprotective under conditions of metabolic impairment, consisting of pore-forming Kir 6.X (Kir 6.1 and Kir 6.2) subunits in combination with regulatory sulfonylurea receptor (SUR1, SUR2A and SUR2B) subunits. E23K is a missense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the cytosolic proximal N-terminal tail of the Kir6.2 subunit. We investigated the E23K polymorphism of Kir6.2 gene in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients to assess its role in susceptibility to CAD. The CAD group included 340 patients (257 male and 83 female; mean age, 60.5±9.1 years) who underwent coronary angiography after recent myocardial infarction or angina. The control group consisted of 91 non cardiac individuals (45 male and 46 female; mean age, 55.6±9.4 years) with normal coronary vessels. The E23K polymorphism of Kir6.2 gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in CAD and control groups. The frequency of the G allele was found to be significantly higher in patients than in control group (58.2% vs. 47.8, p = 0.01). There were also significant differences in GG and combined (GA+AA) genotypes frequencies (35.9 vs. 23.1% and 64.1 vs. 76.9%, p = 0.02). The E23K polymorphism of Kir6.2 gene may be associated with the development of CAD.