Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene polymorphism and cardiovascular disease in end-stage renal disease patients

Abstract

Background/objectivesReceptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) contributes to the pathogenesis of vascular and inflammatory diseases. We investigated whether the functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the RAGE gene (−374 T/A) influences development of cardiovascular disease in the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. MethodsThe cohorts of 1866 ESRD patients and 1143 healthy subjects were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the RAGE variant rs1800624. ResultsThe genotype and allele frequencies did not differ significantly between ESRD patients and controls. There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution when patients with CVD were compared to those without it (p for A allele=0.62). After stratifying CVD patients according to CVD clinical phenotype, the ESRD patients with stroke had a lower frequency of A allele than patients without CVD (0.12 vs. 0.21, p=0.027). To confirm this finding, we genotyped 163 patients with ischemic stroke but without renal disease. In this group, the AA/TA genotypes were also significantly associated with lower risk of stroke (OR 0.46, p=0.0002). ConclusionOur data suggest that the presence of the A allele of −374 T/A polymorphism in the RAGE gene has a protective effect against stroke.