Lack of association of 4G/5G polymorphism in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene with stroke

Disturbances in fibrinolytic activity have been linked with an increased risk for stroke. The insertion/deletion (4G/5G) variation in the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) gene promotor has been raised as a risk for cerebrovascular diseases because of its association with the transcription and the increased plasma PAI-1 levels. However, the association between the 4G/5G polymorphism and stroke has been controversial. Therefore, we evaluated the prevalence of PAI-1 genotype in 72 cerebral infarction, 60 cerebral hemorrhage and 94 healthy subjects in northern Japan. The specific genotypes for the 4G/5G polymorphism were isolated using restriction fragment length polymorphism. The distribution of 4G/5G genotypes in the healthy control group was 40.4% for 4G/4G, 45.8% for 4G/5G and 13.8% for 5G/5G, respectively. We found no association in the 4G/5G polymorphism of the PAI-1 gene with cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage. Our results suggest that the PAI-1 4G/5G gene polymorphism may not be a genetic risk factor for stroke in northern Japan. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.