RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To approach the allele frequency and genotypic distribution of protein C (PC) gene polymorphism on the susceptivity and prognosis in severe sepsis patients. METHODS: Eighty patients with severe sepsis were enrolled. They were divided into survival group (n=47) and non-survival group (n=33) according to 28-day prognosis. Seventy-two healthy volunteers were enrolled as controls. Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) was used to analyze -1654C/T and -1641A/G site genotypes polymorphism of PC gene, fragments containing alleles was analyzed by using DNA sequencing. RESULTS: All the samples of the PC gene in the -1654C/T site had three kinds of genotypes: in 80 cases of severe sepsis group, there were 16 homozygous CC type, 44 heterozygous CT type, 20 homozygous TT type. In 72 cases of healthy control group, there were 17 CC type, 34 CT type, 21 TT type. The -1654C/T allele frequency and genotypic distribution in the patients with severe sepsis was not significantly different from those in the healthy control group, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the survival group and the non-survival group (all P>0.05). All the samples of the PC gene in the -1641A/G site had three kinds of genotypes: in 80 cases of severe sepsis group, there were 60 homozygous AA type, 12 heterozygous AG type, 8 homozygous GG type. In 72 cases of healthy control group, there were 57 AA type, 10 AG type, 5 GG type. No statistically significant difference was observed between severe sepsis group and healthy control group, the survival group and the non-survival group (all P>0.05) in -1641A/G allele frequency and genotypic distribution (all P>0.05). Three kinds of haploid, including -1654T/-1641A, -1654C/-1641A, and -1654C/-1641G were found except -1654T/-1641G. The frequency of haploid -1654C/-1641A was significant higher in non-survival group than that in the survival group [42.42% (14/33) vs. 21.28% (10/47), P=0.038]. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between PC haploid -1654C/-1641A gene polymorphisms and prognosis of severe sepsis was found.