Implication of genetic variants near TMEM18, BCDIN3D/FAIM2, and MC4R with coronary artery disease and obesity in Chinese: a angiography-based study

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is multifactorial disease which occurs as a result of the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several genes associated with obesity in Europeans. We wondered whether these genetic variants were associated with CAD. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs7561317 near TMEM18, rs7138803 near BCDIN3D/FAIM2 and rs12970134 near MC4R were examined in 930 Han Chinese subjects based on coronary angiography, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. There were no significant differences in genotypes and allele distributions of three SNPs between CAD and CAD-free groups. The AA genotype of SNP rs12970134 near MC4R was associated to obesity both in CAD group and CAD-free group in Han Chinese population (P < 0.001, OR = 2.96, 95% CI 2.01–3.73; and P = 0.003, OR = 2.59, 95% CI 1.86–3.19, respectively). Our observations suggest that the polymorphism rs12970134 near MC4R may be associated to the risk of obesity in Han Chinese population.