Promoter polymorphisms of the vascular endothelial growth factor gene are associated with metabolic syndrome susceptibility in Koreans.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis. Patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) have elevated plasma VEGF levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between promoter polymorphisms (the -2578C>A and -1154G>A) of the VEGF gene and MetS susceptibility. A total of 640 subjects were enrolled in the study including 320 patients with MetS and 320 healthy controls. Genotyping of the VEGF single nucleotide polymorphisms was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The CA and AA genotypes of the -2578C>A polymorphism were associated with decreased risk of MetS (P=0.018, P=0.003, respectively). For the -1154G>A polymorphism, although the GA genotype was more significantly frequent in MetS patients (P=0.022), the AA genotype and recessive model (GG+GA vs. AA) were protective against MetS susceptibility (P=0.016, 0.007, respectively). The A-G haplotype frequency composed of the -2578C>A and -1154G>A polymorphisms also differed between the 2 groups (P=0.011). The presented data suggested that the A alleles and A-G haplotype of the VEGF -2578C>A and -1154G>A polymorphisms are associated with decreased MetS susceptibility. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first to investigate the associations between the VEGF -2578C>A and -1154G>A polymorphisms and MetS patients. Further evaluation is necessary to explore the associations between the VEGF polymorphisms and MetS patients in larger samples of other ethnic or racial populations.