Objective: To explore MEF2A gene and susceptibility to coronary artery disease in the Chinese.
Methods: One hundred seventy-five coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and 228 normal subjects were recruited and their blood samples were amplified to detect sequences of all 11 exons of MEF2A gene by PCR. Single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis was used to detect the mutation. The amplified products were purified and sequenced.
Results: The tri-nucleotide (CAG) length polymorphism in the last coding exon of MEF2A in the Chinese was revealed and 4 of the 175 (2.3%) CAD samples containing 4 prolines were due to one proline deletion in MEF2A gene. But all the 228 normal subjects contained 5 prolines. The mutation in both 175 CAD samples and 228 normal subjects was not found in other exons.
Conclusion: The deletion mutation in exon 11 in MEF2A gene may be related to CAD susceptibility in the Chinese population.