Meta-analysis of TAFI polymorphisms and risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CCVDs) are common and have high rates of morbidity, mortality, and recurrence. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is also known as carboxypeptidase B2 and is encoded by the CPB2 gene; CPB2 polymorphisms have been explored in a variety of studies, but their correlation to the risk of CCVDs remains ambiguous. We examined the hypothesized associations between CPB2 mutations and CCVDs in a general population. We searched, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Science Citation Index, and several Chinese databases without applying any language restrictions. Nine case-control studies were analyzed in the current meta-analysis, and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The pooled ORs indicated that the CPB2 rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of CCVDs in the allele model (all P values < 0.05). A similar result for the CPB2 rs1926447 C>T polymorphism and CCVDs risk was detected in the allele model (P < 0.05). Ethnicity subgroup analysis implied that the rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was more likely to lead to the development of cerebrovascular disease in Asians (all P values < 0.05), whereas rs1926447 C>T was associated with cardiovascular disease among Africans (all P values < 0.05). These data suggest that the polymorphisms investigated, especially rs3742264 G>A and rs1926447 C>T, have a modest effect on susceptibility to CCVDs.