PIA1/A2 polymorphism of the platelet glycoprotein receptor IIb/IIIIa and its correlation to cerebrovascular diseases: an appraisal.

Platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa is a membrane receptor for fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor. There is considerable controversy regarding the clinical role of the GP IIb/IIIa PIA1/A2 as a risk factor of cerebrovascular diseases. Here, the author performs a summative analysis on the recent previous reports on the GP IIb/IIIa PIA1/A2 and its correlation to cerebrovascular diseases. The meta-analysis was performed to assess the correlation between the pattern of GP IIb/IIIa PIA1/A2 polymorphism and cerebrovascular diseases. From available 4 case-control studies, 553 patients and 1059 controls are evaluated. From overall risk estimation, the subjects with PIA2 alleles have 1.18 times higher risk to develop cerebrovascular diseases. According to this analysis, the author proposes that the pattern of GP IIb/IIIa PIA1/A2 polymorphism does not represent a useful marker of increased risk for cerebrovascular diseases. The lack of association between pattern of GP IIb/IIIa PIA1/A2 polymorphism and ethnicity can also be showed in this study.