Heritability of genetic variants of resistin gene in patients with coronary artery disease: a family-based study.

Objective: The resistin gene (RETN) -420C>G and +299G>A polymorphism was investigated in a case-control study from forty complex Pakistani families with coronary artery disease (CAD) history. Heritability of the susceptible/variant alleles was investigated from parent-offspring trios in these families.

Methods: Resistin levels were determined from 239 individuals by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Results: Elevated resistin levels were observed from CAD cases vs. controls (p<0.0001). The RETN -420C>G and +299G>A polymorphism was more prevalent in cases vs. controls (p<0.0001). The transmission disequilibrium test revealed a significant association of the -420 and +299 polymorphism with CAD (χ(2)=34.4, p<0.0001 and χ(2)=31.6, p<0.0001, respectively).

Conclusions: Elevated resistin, and the RETN -420C>G and +299G>A polymorphism may contribute to familial CAD. The -420 and +299 variant alleles are transmitted more frequently from parent to affected offspring. This is the first report on the association of the RETN +299G>A polymorphism with CAD.