Evaluation of Protein C Gene Polymorphism in Patients with Pulmonary Embolism

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism is usually a complication of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and develops as a result of obstruction of pulmonary artery and/or branches with pieces that ruptured from the DVT of the leg. Pulmonary embolism and DVT is also referred as venous thrombo-embolism (VTE), because two events often remain together. In the studies, it was found that protein C (PROC) deficiency is a risk factor for pulmonary embolism. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between pulmonary embolism and PROC gene-1654C>T polymorphism in Turkish population. Methods: The DNAs of 114 pulmonary embolism cases and 120 healthy controls have been analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) to evaluate the relation between PROC gene-1654C>T polymorphism and pulmonary embolism in our study. Statistical analyses were performed by using chi-square and analysis of variance tests. Results: The proportion of individuals with CT genotype carrying polymorphic T allele as heterozygous form was 38.7% in the control group and 21.9% in the pulmonary embolism cases (p=0.047). When demographic and clinical characteristics of cases compared with PROC gene-1654C>T polymorphism, it was observed that the changes in chest CT ratios could be associated with-1654C>T polymorphism (p=0.017). Conclusion: As a result, individuals with CT genotypes carrying the polymorphic T allele as heterozygous form have a lower risk of developing pulmonary embolism.