Platelet membrane receptor
glycoproteins (GP) are essential for the platelet activation process, and the genetic polymorphisms in the genes that encode
platelet glycoproteins have been proposed to influence the risk of
acute coronary syndrome and
atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the role of
GPIa, HPA-1 and HPA-3 polymorphisms as putative risk factors for
myocardial infarction (MI) and the extent of
coronary artery disease. We selected 1,073 subjects who underwent coronary angiography; 242 had normal or minimal
coronary atherosclerosis, and 831 patients had significant
coronary artery disease (CAD). The genotype was determined by the methods of single base extension for C807T/G873A polymorphisms of
GPIa, and restriction fragment length polymorphism for HPA-1 and HPA-3. The C807T and G873A polymorphisms of
GPIa showed complete linkage in the Korean population. For HPA-1 gene polymorphism, only the HPA-1a/a (PlA1/A1) genotype was observed in 192 selected subjects from our study population. The distribution of
GPIa (C807T/G873A) and HPA-3 genotypes did not differ significantly between normal subjects and CAD subjects. No significant association between MI and both gene polymorphisms was present. However, for the subgroup analysis of young male patients whose age was less than 56 years, the genotype frequency of HPA-3b/b was significantly lower in patients with MI compared to patients without a history of MI (7.5% vs. 20.0%, p=0.04). The odds ratio for HPA-3 b homozygosity versus the HPA-3a carrier was 0.32 (95% CI, 0.10- 0.99, p=0.04). Conclusively, HPA-3 polymorphism was associated with MI in Korean individuals younger than 56 years of age, but other polymorphisms of GP, which we studied, were not associated with both the extent of
coronary atherosclerosis or MI.