Genetic factors in development of cardiovascular diseases in women in menopause

Abstract

Objective. To determine the frequency of different allelic variants of the plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) among postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease (CHD) and arterial hypertension (AH). Materials and methods.There were examined 125 women of menopausal age with postmenopause duration from 3 to 18 years.The main group consisted of 32 women with CHD and 37 with hypertension.The control group consisted of 56 conditionally healthy women.The study of genetic polymorphism was performed using the method of allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, followed by hydrolysis of amplicons with an appropriate restriction endonuclease. Results.This is a clear link between the risk of cardiovascular disease and an increase in the level of PAI-1 in the blood among postmenopausal women, due to the presence of the 4C allele of the PAI-1 gene and the genetic polymorphism of MTHFR in their genotype. Increasing of the concentration of PAI-1 is among the genetic causes of reduced fibrinolytic activity and tendency to thrombosis in women with menopausal syndrome, which is associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus type 1. The regulation of fibrinolysis is closely related to the concentration of homocysteine in the blood. One of the reasons for moderate hyperhomocysteinemia is the C677T mutation in the MTHFR gene. In women of the main group, 4G alleles in the PAI-1 gene and T alleles in the MTHFR gene are detected more often (38) than in the control group (19).In women with metabolic syndrome, the frequency of the defective 4G allele in the PAI-1 gene is high, with 29 of women having a homozygous genotype - 4G / 4G. Conclusion. In addition to estrogen deficiency, genetic factors also play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.