Background: Platelet-derived growth factor D (PDGF-D) plays an important role in angiogenesis, vessel remodeling, inflammation and repair in response to injury. We hypothesized that genetic variation in PDGFD gene might alter the susceptibility to stroke.
Findings: We determined the genotypes of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (-858A/C, rs3809021) in 1484 patients with stroke (654 cerebral thrombosis, 419 lacunar infarction, 411 intracerebral hemorrhage [ICH]) and 1528 control subjects from an unrelated Chinese Han population and followed the stroke patients up for a median of 4.5 years.The -858AA genotype showed significantly increased risk of ICH (dominant model: odds ratio [OR] 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.68, P = 0.05; additive model: OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.01-1.52, P = 0.04) than wild-type genotype. Further analyses showed that -858AA genotype conferred about 2-fold increase in risk of non-hypertensive ICH (dominant model: OR 2.1, 95%CI 1.34-3.29, P = 0.001; additive model: OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.24-2.46, P = 0.001). After a median follow-up of 4.5 years, -858AA genotype was associated with a reduced risk of ICH recurrence (dominant model: adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.09, 95%CI 0.01-0.74, P = 0.025; additive model: HR 0.21, 95% CI 0.04-1.16, P = 0.073) in non-hypertensive patients.
Conclusions: The -858AA genotype is probably associated with risk for non-hypertensive ICH. Further studies should be conducted to reveal the role of PDGF-D at various stages of ICH development--beneficial, or deleterious.