Angiotensinogen gene polymorphism in acute myocardial infarction patients

INTRODUCTION: The objective of the study was to explore the role of a genetic variant of angiotensinogen (AGT), M235T, as an independent risk factor for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to investigate the possible association with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD), estimated on the basis of the number of coronary stenoses and critical arterial occlusions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 123 AMI patients were compared to 144 healthy controls. AGT genotypes were determined by PCR. RESULTS: A significant association was found between AGT M235T polymorphism and AMI (p = .021). By logistic regression, the TT genotype appeared to confer 1.9-fold increased risk for AMI in both the univariate and the multivariate model. The frequencies of the TT genotype and T allele increased with the number of stenoses in coronary vessels. Moreover, the TT genotype and the T allele were more frequent in the subgroup of patients with stenoses in at least four coronary vessels than in other patients, including subjects with one- to three-vessel disease. Furthermore, the TT genotype and the T allele were significantly more frequent in patients with critical arterial occlusions (> 90%) than in subjects without critical stenoses. CONCLUSIONS: The AGT M235T polymorphism associates with AMI risk and influences CAD severity.