Association analysis of GWAS and candidate gene loci in a Chinese population with coronary heart disease.

OBJECTIVE Coronary heart disease (CHD), the most severe form of coronary artery disease (CAD), is a complex disease that involves a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Recently, multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with CAD in Caucasians by genome-wide association (GWA) studies.However, the association of these SNPs with CHD in Asian populations has not yet been established. Here, we aim to investigate the genetic etiology of CHD in a Chinese population by genotyping SNPs previously been associated with CHD in other ethic origin in GWAS or candidate gene studies. METHODS Five SNPs, rs17114036, rs9369640, rs515135, rs579459 and rs8055236, from 5 different loci were genotyped using a sequenom Mass array system in 545CHD patients and 1008 unrelated controls from a Chinese population. RESULTS Our study showed that SNP rs515135 is strongly associated with CHD in a Chinese Han population (P-value=0.00333, OR=1.48). We also detected significant difference of SNP rs579459 in APOB gene in patients withsevere CAD compared to patients with mild CAD. CONCLUSION SNP rs515135 is associated with the susceptibility of CHD in Chinese Han population. The location of rs515135 in the APOB gene supports its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of CAD. Our study data also support that SNP rs579459 may be associated with the severity of CHD.