No evidence for an association between ROCK2 gene Thr431Asn polymorphism and idiopathic generalized epilepsy: Preliminary findings [ROCK2 geni Thr431Asn polimorfizmi ve idiopatik jeneralize epilepsi arasi{dotless}ndaki i̇lişki için kani{dotless}t yoktur: Preliminer sonuçlar]

Background: the isoforms of rho-kinase (rock1 and rock2) are highly expressed in the nervous system,implying important roles for these proteins in a wide range of fundamental cellular functions. it has been reported that rho is activated in the cortex and hippocampus after traumatic brain injury and kainic acid-induced seizures in rats. rho-kinase inhibitors have been shown to suppress seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole or maximal electroconvulsive shock in mice. therefore,rho/rho-kinase signalling may also play a role in human epilepsy. to test this hypothesis we analyzed the genotype distributions and allele frequencies for rock2 thr431asn polymorphism among the epileptic patients in a turkish population. methods: in this case-control study,128 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy were recruited. genomic dna from the patients and the 150 nonepileptic healthy control cases was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction using a light-cycler. results: neither genotype distributions nor the allele frequencies for the thr431asn polymorphism showed a significant difference between the groups. moreover,the thr431asn polymorphisms did not influence age of epilepsy onset,family history,single or combined drug treatments,or status epilepticus. conclusion: these results suggest that there was no evidence for an association of rock2 gene thr431asn polymorphism with idiopathic generalized epilepsy in a group of turkish population.