Association between the MVK rs2287218 SNP and the risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke: A case-control study

The association between the mevalonate kinase gene (MVK) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and serum lipid levels has been detected in several previous genome-wide association studies, but the results are inconsistent. In addition, it is still unclear whether the loci indentified exert the similar effect on the susceptibility of coronary heart disease (CHD) or ischemic stroke (IS). Therefore, the present study was undertaken to detect the association between the MVK rs2287218 SNP and serum lipid levels, the susceptibility of CHD and IS in a Southern Chinese Han population. The genotypes of the SNP in 1764 unrelated subjects (CHD, 583; IS, 555; and healthy controls, 626) were determined by the Snapshot technology. The genotypic and allelic frequencies were different between CHD and control subjects (P <= 0.013 for each), or between IS and control groups (P < 0.01 for each). The T allele carriers had an increased risk of CHD and IS (CHD: OR = 1.674, 95% CI = 1.25-2.25, P = 0.001 for CT/TT vs. CC genotypes; OR = 1.595, 95% CI = 1.23-2.07, P < 0.001 for T vs. C alleles; IS: OR = 1.890, 95% CI = 1.36-2.47, P = 0.001 for CT/TT vs. CC genotypes; OR = 1.829, 95% CI = 1.38-2.42, P < 0.001 for T vs. C alleles). The T allele carriers in healthy controls had lower serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels than the T allele non-carriers (P = 0.013). These findings suggest that the MVK rs2287218 SNP is likely to increase the risk of CHD and IS by decreasing serum HDL-C levels in our study populations.