Association of the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) gene 4G/5G promoter polymorphism in Buerger's disease (Tromboangiitis obliterans)

Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) is an unusual tobacco-associated vasculopathy that is a nonatherosclerotic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology that affects small and mediumsized vessels of the extremities. The single guanosine nucleotide deletion/insertion polymorphism (4G/5G) at -675 bp in promoter region of the PAI-1 gene is the major genetic determinant of PAI-1 expression. Plasma PAI-1 level is higher in people with the homozygous 4G genotype than in those with the 5G/5G genotype and renders higher transcription activity. The aim of this study was to determine the status and the role of PAI-1 gene 4G/5G promoter polymorphism in patients with Buerger’s disease (Thromboangiitis obliterans—TAO). The current case-control study included 30 consecutive patients with Buerger’s disease (mean age 42.9 ± 14.3 years, 28 men and 2 women), and 30 healthy volunteers (mean age 40.9 ± 4.79 years, 27 men and 3 women) between January 2006 and September 2009. Patients and control cases were genotyped for the 4G/5G polymorphism using the multiplex PCR based stripassay reverse hybridisation technique. It was found that heterozygote PAI-1 gene polymorphisms (p < 0.05) was significantly more frequent in patients with TAO in the current results. There was a significant difference in genotype distribution between the two groups (P < 0.001). The 4G allele occurred more frequently in the patient group of heavy smokers (P = 0.05). The current study shows the higher prevalence of of 4G allele in TAO patients in Sivas population means gene may predispose to TAO.