Human C-reactive protein (CRP) 1059G/C polymorphism.

We found a novel G-->C change at nucleotide 1059 within exon 2 of the CRP gene encoding the C-reactive protein. The CRP 1059G/C polymorphism could be detected by digestion with endonuclease MaeIII. The frequency of the CRP 1059C allele was 0.109 in Caucasians, but it was absent from Canadian Oji-Cree. Because of the importance of the CRP gene product in inflammation and its recent association with ischemic heart disease syndromes, this polymorphism may be useful in the association studies of atherosclerosis and its related phenotypes.