Background: Several association studies have shown that -844 G/A and HindIII C/G PAI-1 polymorphisms are related with increase of PAI-1 levels, obesity, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, hypertension and dyslipidemia, which are components of metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to analyze the allele and genotype frequencies of these polymorphisms in PAI-1 gene and its association with metabolic syndrome and its components in a sample of Mexican mestizo children.
Methods: This study included 100 children with an age range between 6-11 years divided in two groups: a) 48 children diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and b) 52 children metabolically healthy without any clinical and biochemical alteration. Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: fasting glucose levels ≥ 100 mg/dL, triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL, HDL-cholesterol < 40 mg/dL, obesity BMI ≥ 95th percentile, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 95th percentile and insulin resistance HOMA-IR ≥ 2.4. The -844 G/A and HindIII C/G PAI-1 polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-RFLP.
Results: For the -844 G/A polymorphism, the G/A genotype (OR = 2.79; 95% CI, 1.11-7.08; p = 0.015) and the A allele (OR = 2.2; 95% CI, 1.10-4.43; p = 0.015) were associated with metabolic syndrome. The -844 G/A and A/A genotypes were associated with increase in plasma triglycerides levels (OR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.16 to 6.04; p = 0.02), decrease in plasma HDL-cholesterol levels (OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.06 to 5.42; p = 0.03) and obesity (OR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.17-5.92; p = 0.01). The C/G and G/G genotypes of the HindIII C/G polymorphism contributed to a significant increase in plasma total cholesterol levels (179 vs. 165 mg/dL; p = 0.02) in comparison with C/C genotype.
Conclusions: The -844 G/A PAI-1 polymorphism is related with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, obesity and atherogenic dyslipidemia, and the HindIII C/G PAI-1 polymorphism was associated with the increase of total cholesterol levels in Mexican children.