VEGFA gene haplotypes in Meniere's disease

Background: Meniere's disease is an idiopathic disorder of the inner ear that causes hearing loss, episodic vertigo, and tinnitus. In this study, the role of rs2010963, and rs35569394 polymorphisms of the VEGFA gene in Meniere's disease was evaluated. Material and methods: In an independent case-control population, total samples of 69 patients with Meniere's diseases and 152 age-matched controls were evaluated. Blood DNA extraction was conducted by phenol-chloroform method. The frequency of genotypes was determined using PCR for rs35569394, and PCR-RFLP methods for rs2010963 variants. Results: No significant association was identified for allele /genotype frequencies of studied variants. However, haplotype analysis demonstrated that haplotype encompassing G/Ins (p = 0.03) and C/Del (p= 0.01) alleles for rs2010963, rs35569394 respectively were more frequent in individuals with Meniere's disease than the controls group. In addition, haplotype comprising G/Del and C/Ins was more frequent in the control group than the case group (p-value = 0.02, and 0.003, respectively). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that G/Ins and C/Del haplotypes in the VEGFA gene are risk factors for Meniere's disease, on the other hand, the higher frequency of G/Del and C/Ins in the control group may show the protective role of these haplotypes against developing Meniere's disease.