Positive association between rs10918859 of the NOS1AP gene and coronary heart disease in male Han Chinese.

Westaway et al. have revealed a significant association between common variants of calsequestrin-2 (CASQ2) and nitric oxide synthase 1 (neuronal) adaptor protein (NOS1AP) and the risk of sudden death in patients of coronary heart disease (CHD). In light of the findings, we aim to explore the association between variants of the two genes and CHD risk in Han Chinese. Our results show a significant contribution of rs10918859 of the NOS1AP gene to CHD in Han Chinese (genotype: χ(2)=8.33, df=2, p=0.015; allele: χ(2)=4.00, df=1, p=0.047, odds ratio [OR]=1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.00-2.05). The association of rs10918859 with CHD is seen only in men (genotype: χ(2)=7.81, df=2, p=0.02; allele: χ(2)=4.49, df=1, p=0.03, OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.03-2.66). Moreover, rs10918859 is likely to exert its effect under a dominant model in men (χ(2)=7.6, df=1, p=0.005, OR=2.46, 95% CI=1.29-4.71). No association is observed between CASQ2 variants and CHD risk. The frequencies of rs12084280-C and rs10918859-A are higher in Han Chinese (36.7% and 41.6%) than those in Europeans (11% and 19.4%, respectively). These ethnic differences imply that further validation of NOS1AP in the susceptibility of CHD in other populations is warranted. We confirm that rs10918859 of the NOS1AP gene is associated with CHD in Han Chinese. In addition, here we report a gender effect in the association between rs10918859 of the NOS1AP gene and CHD.