Background: Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) plays a key role in up-regulating stress responses, and it may be involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke (IS). However, whether HSP70 polymorphisms are a risk factor for IS is still controversial.
Methods: Three polymorphisms of HSP70 gene (+190G/C, +1267A/G, and +2437T/C) were analyzed by PCR-RFLP in Chinese patients with IS (n=116) and elderly subjects without IS (n=116).
Results: The genotype distribution of HSP70-2 and HSP70-hom was not different significantly, but the genotype distribution of HSP70-1 at +190 was different significantly between the patients and controls. The allele frequency of HSP70-1 b2 was significantly higher in the patients (36.64%) than the controls (21.99%, P<0.001). The frequency of HSP70-1 b1b2 genotype was higher in the patients (64.66%) than the controls (37.07%; OR, 3.62). Conditional logistic regression revealed that +190 b2b2+b1b2 genotypes was an independent risk factor for IS (OR, 5.41). After adjustment for other risk factors, the interaction between the HSP70-1 genotype and smoking was confirmed (I(AB),2.78).
Conclusions: HSP70-1+190G/C may affect susceptibility to IS and smoking along with HSP70-1+190G/C may increase the risk of IS.