Association of the Frizzled-4 gene polymorphism with susceptibility to retinopathy of prematurity

Abstract

Objective To research the relationship between Frizzled-4(Fzd-4) gene polymorphism and the pathogens of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP). Methods According to the diagnostic standard of retinopathy of prematurity, 93 patients with ROP, including 86 early ROP cases and 7 advanced ROP cases, who were selected from the Affiliated Bayi Children's Hospital, Beijing Military Region General Hospital, were enrolled, and 102 premature infants without ocular disease were enrolled randomly as control group.Genotype of Fzd-4 was determined by polymerase chain reaction and gene sequencing, and the distributions of genetic polymorphism in each group were compared throngh statistical analysis. Results A 205C/T polymorphism was found in exon 1.Genotype and allele frequency distributions of 205C/T had no significant difference between the early ROP group and control group(P=1.000), but there were significant differences between advanced ROP group, control group and early ROP group(P=0.010, 0.001). Allele T enhanced the risk of advanced ROP 43.714 times and the risk of early ROP developing to be advanced ROP also increased 36.857 times.Carrying allele T enhanced the risk of advanced ROP 29.143 times and the risk of early ROP developing into advanced ROP also increased 24.571 times. Conclusion There is a correlation effect between the 205C/T polymorphism of Fzd-4 gene and the advanced ROP, but not the early ROP. Key words: Retinopathy of prematurity; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Frizzled-4 gene