Association of the Platelet Glycoprotein Ia C807T Gene Polymorphism With Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction in Younger Patients

Abstract Recently, we have shown that two alleles of the glycoprotein (GP) Ia gene, designated C807 and T807, are associated with low or high platelet GPIa-IIa density and consequently with slower or faster rate of platelet adhesion to type I collagen, respectively. This polymorphism could therefore present a genetic predisposition for the development of thrombotic disease and hemostasis. We investigated the relationship of the GPIa C807T dimorphism to the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI). An allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed for genotyping of C807T polymorphism. DNA samples from 2237 male patients who underwent coronary angiography on account of coronary heart disease as verified illness or presumptive diagnosis were genotyped. The odds ratio was calculated as an estimate of the relative risk by multiple logistic regression. We found a strong association between the T allele and nonfatal MI among individuals younger than the mean age of 62 years (n = 1,057; odds ratio, 1.57; P = .004). The odds ratio of MI increased for T807 carriers with decreasing age. The highest odds ratio was detected within the youngest 10% of the study sample (<49 years; n = 223; odds ratio, 2.61; P = .009). In contrast, no evidence of an association between C807T dimorphism with CAD was found. Our findings suggest that inherited platelet GP variations might have an important impact on acute thrombotic disease.