Association between Interleukin-6 gene -572G>C polymorphism and coronary heart disease.

The association of the Interleukin 6 (IL-6) -572G>C polymorphism and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) have been implicated in a large number of investigations, but the results remain debatable. This meta-analysis was performed to provide more compelling evidence for the connection between the IL-6 -572G>C polymorphism and CHD risk. Studies eligible for this meta-analysis were identified through electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and CNKI. The fixed effects model was performed to summarize an odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI). The meta-analysis of 3,985 patients and 7,153 controls from 17 studies showed that the CC genotype carriers had 0.84-fold lower risk of developing CHD when compared with the carriers with the GC+GG genotypes (OR(CC vs. GC+GG) = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.75-0.95; P = 0.414; I(2) = 3.5%). The decreased risk of CHD was also found in Asians (OR = 0.87; 95% CI = 0.77-0.98; P = 0.227; I(2) = 22.7%) and Caucasians (OR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.40-0.92; P = 0.958; I(2) = 0) under the same genetic comparison. The results of our meta-analysis revealed that the IL-6 -572G>C polymorphism may be linked with risk of CHD in a protective model.