RXRA introne polymorphism and ABO blood groups in chronic heart failure

Retinoic X receptor alpha (RXRA), a member of nuclear receptor superfamily, plays a key role in development, metabolism, glucose homeostasis, and intestinal cholesterol balance. The aim of this study was to examine an association of RXR alpha introne 5 A(39526)AA polymorphism and ABO blood groups with chronic heart failure (CHF) in the Czech population. A total of 238 patients with chronic heart failure and a control group of 246 subjects were included in the study. The RXR alpha gene polymorphism and ABO blood groups were detected by PCR and RFLP methods. Significant differences in distributions of RXRA A(39526)AA alleles and genotypes between CHF patients and controls were observed (P_g=0.03, P_a=0.02). The RXRA gene polymorphism differences of within blood group A between CHF patients and controls were highly significant in genotype distributions (P_g=0.002) and in allele frequency comparisons (P_a=0.0001). The prevalence of AA allele in CHF patients with A blood group was four-fold lower than in controls with the same blood group (OR=0.24; P_corr=0.0001). A highly significant association of RXRA introne single-nucleotide insertion polymorphism and A blood group in chronic heart failure was observed. Our results suggest close linkage between RXRA A(39526)AA polymorphism and ABO blood groups.