Objective: The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family is a potential genetic risk factor for the development of cerebrovascular disease, including ischemic stroke. MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation can lead to excessive MMP-1 protein production and MMP-1 enzyme activity. MMPs have an important role in the pathophysiology ischemic stroke pathophysiology and clinical outcome. Thus, the sensitivity to ischemic stroke may vary according to genetic characteristics. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation in the development of ischemic stroke disease in the population of Thrace, Turkey.
Materials and Methods: In all, 87 ischemic stroke patients and 80 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods were used to determine the genotype distribution of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variations.
Results: There were more 1G/1G genotype (56.9%) and 1G/2G genotypes (55.1%) of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variations in the patient group than in the control group. However, no significant difference was determined between the groups in the distribution of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation genotypes (p=0.127). The allele frequency of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation in the ischemic stroke patient and healthy control groups was not significantly different from the Hardy-Weinberg distribution (p=0.6556 and p=0.0501, respectively).
Conclusion: The 1G/1G and 1G/2G genotypes of MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation were observed more frequently in the ischemic stroke group compared with the healthy control group. However, the MMP-1 (-1607 1G/2G) gene variation was not determined to be a genetic risk factor for the development of ischemic stroke in the population of Thrace region of Turkey.