Polymorphism of C3 complement in association with myocardial infarction in a sample of central Tunisia

BACKGROUND Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major clinical problem because of its large contribution to mortality. The genetic bases of this disease have been widely studied in recent years to find a clear association with some genetic markers that increase the risk of its occurrence. In the present investigation, the correlation between MI and the C3 complement polymorphism was analyzed using a case-control study. METHODS Our study ported on one hundred seventy survived myocardial infarction patients and ninety five healthy controls. The C3 allele identification was investigated using the amplification refractory mutation system PCR to determine the C3*S and the C3*F alleles of the C3 polymorphism. RESULTS Frequencies of C3*S and C3*F in patients are 0.59 and 0.41 respectively. Fisher test results showed a significant increase of C3*F allele in the sample of patients (0.41; odds ratio: 2.616; C.I [1.738-3.938]) compared to controls (0.21; odds ratio: 0.382; 95% CI [0.254-0.575]), p = 2.742 × 10-6. CONCLUSION A strong positive correlation was found between C3 polymorphism and MI estimating that the risk of myocardial infarction is significantly increased among patients with C3*F allele of this polymorphism. VIRTUAL SLIDES The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1190484203893646.