Vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms and coronary heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed this study to better elucidate the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphisms and coronary heart disease (CHD). Eligible articles were searched in PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus and CNKI. A total of 24 studies containing 6489 CHD patients and 5664 control subjects were analyzed. Our overall and subgroup analyses suggested that rs699947 polymorphism was significantly associated with CHD susceptibility in both Caucasians and Asians, rs1570360 polymorphism was significantly associated with CHD susceptibility in Caucasians, and rs3025039 polymorphism was significantly associated with CHD susceptibility in Asians. Besides, rs3025039 polymorphism was significantly correlated with the number of affected coronary arteries, while rs699947 and rs2010963 polymorphisms were significantly correlated with poor collateral circulation in CHD patients. Overall, our findings indicate that VEGF rs699947, rs1570360, and rs3025039 polymorphisms may affect CHD susceptibility. Moreover, VEGF rs699947 and rs2010963 polymorphisms may serve as genetic biomarkers of poor collateral circulation after myocardial ischemia.