Association of miR-146a Gene Polymorphism at loci rs2910164 G/C, rs57095329 A/G, and rs6864584 T/C with Susceptibility to Kawasaki Disease in Chinese Children

Objective To investigate the genetic association of miR-146a gene polymorphisms at loci rs2910164 G/C, rs57095329 A/G, and rs6864584 T/C in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) and coronary artery lesions (CAL). Methods There were 120 patients with KD and 126 healthy subjects in this study. The genotype of loci rs2910164 G/C, rs57095329 A/G, and rs6864584 T/C of miR-146a gene were detected by polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing. Results For miR-146a gene polymorphisms at loci rs2910164 G/C, rs57095329 A/G, and rs6864584 T/C, there were no significant difference of genotype frequencies and allele frequencies between KD group and healthy control group, or between the IVIG-resistant group and IVIG-sensitive group ( P > 0.05). In KD with coronary artery lesions (KD-CAL) group, the genotype frequencies of GG were higher than that in KD without coronary artery lesion (KD-WO) group at locus rs2910164 G/C polymorphisms of miR-146a gene ( χ 2 = 6.660, P = 0.036), patients with KD carried genotype of GG were at 3.636 times higher risk of getting coronary artery lesions than those of non-carriers ( χ 2 = 6.455, P = 0.018, OR = 3.636, 95%CI = 1.280–10.262). While there was no significant difference of allele frequency of G and C between KD-CAL group and KD-WO group ( P > 0.05). In KD-CAL group, the allele frequency of A was higher than that in KD-WO group at locus rs57095329 A/G polymorphisms of miR-146a gene ( χ 2 = 4.745, P = 0.035), carriers with allele A were at 2.422 times higher risk of getting coronary artery lesions than those of non-carriers (χ 2 = 4.745, P = 0.035, OR = 2.422, 95%CI = 1.073–5.465), while there was no significant difference of genotype frequency of AA, AG, and GG types between KD-CAL group and KD-WO group ( P > 0.05). There was no significant difference of genotype frequencies of TT, TC, and CC types and allele frequencies of T and C types between KD-CAL group and KD-WO group at locus rs6864584 T/C polymorphisms of miR-146a gene ( P > 0.05). Conclusions The significant association has been found between the genotype and allele frequency of the miR-146a gene loci rs2910164 G/C and rs57095329 A/G, the genotype GG of rs2910164 G/C, and allele A of rs57095329 A/G were risk factors for getting coronary artery lesions.