科研之友
微信
新浪微博
Facebook
分享链接
摘要
Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most common types of vascular diseases. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) is suspected to be related to PH risk. Recently, many studies have investigated the relationship between NOS3 4b/a polymorphism and PH risk, but the results were controversial and inconclusive. Method: A meta-analysis was performed by searching electronic databases and bibliographies of related articles until October 2015. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were determined by fixed or random-effects model according to the respective heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were employed to examine potential source of heterogeneity. Egger's and Begg's tests were done to detect publication biases. Results: Six case-control studies, containing 198 cases and 250 controls, were included in this meta-analysis. A significant difference was found in the homozygote comparison (4a/a vs 4b/b) by fixed-effects model. The pooled OR was 3.83 (95% CI=1.33-11.02, P-OR=0.01, P-heterogeneity=0.63, I-2=0.0%). When comparing the recessive model (4a/a vs 4b/b+4b/a), a tendency of increasing risk of PH to the individuals with the genotype of 4a/a compared to those with the genotype 4b/b or 4b/a was found. The pooled OR by fixed-effects mode was 2.55 (95% CI=0.95-6.88, P-OR=0.06, P-heterogeneity=0.89, I-2=0.0%). However, no statistically significant differences were observed for 4b/a vs 4b/b or (4a/a+4b/a) vs 4b/b. Conclusion: An increasing susceptibility between NOS3 4b/a polymorphism and PH risk was found in this study. Individuals with the genotype of 4a/a have an obviously higher risk of developing PH than those with the genotype of 4b/b.
