ABSTRACT
Lower extremity arterial calcification (AC) is a common pathological process that has independent significance in the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases. There is evidence that development of AC associated with Thr83Ala polymorphism of matrix GLA-protein gene. The objective of this study was to examine the association between Thr83Ala polymorphism of matrix Cla protein (MGP) gene and AC in male and female subjects of the Ukrainian population. 40 AC and 40 healthy controls were recruited to the study. MGP exon 4 Thr83Ala polymorphism (rs 4236) was examined using the polymerase chain reaction with subsequent restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The obtained data show that the substitution of threonin by alanine at position 83 in a molecule of MGP can affect its functional characteristics and anticalcinogenic properties. The distribution of homozygous carriers of a major allelic variant, and heterozygous and homozygous minor allele variants of Thr83Ala polymorphism in patients with AC was 40,0%, 47,5%, and 12,5% respectively. The corresponding distribution of variants in the control group was 32,5%, 42,5% and 25,0% (p=0,352 by χ2 -test). In women who are carriers of Ala/Ala-variant, CA occurs more rarely than in men with the same genotype (p=0,036 by χ2 -test). The substitution of threonine by alanine due to MGP exon 4 Thr83Ala polymorphism is related to a decrease in the likelihood of CA in female persons in the Ukrainian population.