Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the prothrombin variant allele 20210A among survivors of myocardial infarction.
Background: The prothrombin gene variant has been identified as a novel genetic risk factor for venous thrombosis. However, the risk of developing arterial thrombosis as a result of the presence of this mutated allele is unknown.
Methods: The G-->A transition at position 20210 of the 3'-untranslated region was determined in 220 survivors of myocardial infarction and in 295 individuals from the general population.
Results: The prevalence of heterozygotes for the prothrombin mutated allele was 3% among patients with myocardial infarction and 0.7% in the general population (P = 0.03). No age-related difference in the prevalence of the mutated allele was observed. However, for individuals over 45 years old the prevalence among females was higher than among males (5% vs. 0%).
Conclusion: These data suggest that being heterozygote for the allele variant 20210A of the prothrombin gene could be a genetic risk factor for developing myocardial infarction.