MIR17HG polymorphisms contribute to High altitude pulmonary edema susceptibility in Chinese Han people

Background: High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a severe form of acute mountain sickness (AMS). The results of existing studies have shown that the onset of HAPE has obvious ethnic specificity and personal susceptibility, suggesting that the occurrence of HAPE is related to genetic factors. Therefore, six polymorphisms on MIR17HG were selected to investigate the effect of mutations on MIR17HG on HAPE in Chinese Han population.Materials and Methods: 487 healthy participants (244 participants had high altitude pulmonary edema, as the case group; and 243 participants had no symptoms of HAPE, as the control group) were genotyped via the Agena MassARRAY, and the relationship between polymorphisms on MIR17HG and HAPE risk was evaluated using a χ2 test with an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in multiple genetic models.Results: In the allele model, we observed that lower risk (OR = 0.74, 95%CI: 0.56 - 0.98, p = 0.036) of the A allele for rs7318578 on the MIR17HG compared with the people with the C allele. Logistic regression analysis of four models for all selected MIR17HG SNPs between cases and controls showed significant differences for rs7318578 (OR = 0.74, 95%CI: 0.56 – 0.98, p = 0.037) and rs17735387 (OR = 1.51, 95%CI: 1.03 – 2.21, p = 0.036) in the HAPE population.Conclusion: rs7318578 and rs17735387 on MIR17HG were associated with the genetic susceptibility of HAPE in Chinese Han population.