Apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 enhances the association between the rs2910164 polymorphism of miR-146a and risk of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction

Aim: to analyse the relationship between two potentially functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) of the mir-146a gene (rs2910164 and rs57095329) and the risk of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction (aci). methods: a total of 297 patients with aci and 300 matched healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. the mir-146a polymorphism was detected using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. results: a significant difference in the c allele frequency at rs2910164 (p=0.028) was noted between patients with aci and control subjects. in contrast,the genotype and allele frequencies of rs57095329 were not statistically associated with aci. in addition,the decreased expression of mir- 146a was significantly more frequent in aci patients who were apoeε4 (+) carriers (p=0.0233),and rs2910164 g>c was intimately associated with the apoeε4-containing genotype in patients compared with the apoeε4 (-) carriers (p=0.0323). conclusions: our findings indicated that the c allele of rs2910164 mir-146a is an important risk factor for aci,and apoeε4 may function through attenuating mir-146a expression to enhance aci susceptibility. this study provides new information about the possible relationship between mir- 146a and apoeε4 in the development of aci,with potentially important therapeutic implications. © 2016,japan atherosclerosis society. all rights reserved.