Connection between p53 gene Bam HI RFLP polymorphism with the volume of brain infarction in patients with carotid atherothrombotic ischemic stroke.

PURPOSE: The aim of our investigation was to study the connection between p53 gene Bam HI RFLP polymorphism and the brain infarction volume in patients with atherothrombotic ischemic stroke that could highlight certain genetic aspects of the individual sensibility of brain tissue to acute ischemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diallelic Bam HI RFLP polymorphism in 5' flanking region p53 gene was studied in 96 patients with carotid atherothrombotic stroke from Moscow population. Magnetic resonance imaging was conducted on day 7 after the stroke onset. The manual morphometry and "Osiris" morphometric hardware (by the Hospital of the University of Geneva) were used for assessment of the infarction volume. RESULTS: The predominance of small-size infarctions (< 40 cm3) was revealed in patients with (-/-) Bam HI RFLP p53 genotype versus patients with (-/+) (X2 = 19.7; P < 0.001) and (+/+) (X2 = 12.288; P < 0.001) genotypes. According to the Bayesian's statistics, in patients with (-/-) p53 Bam HI genotype the development of a small-size infarction in atherothrombotic ischemic stroke can be prognosticated with probability more than 65%. CONCLUSIONS: A significant association between p53 gene Bam HI RFLP polymorphism and the infarction volume was found in patients with carotid atherothrombotic stroke from Moscow population. These results additionally confirm that apoptosis plays an important role in the formation of ischemic brain lesion and that drugs with anti-apoptotic properties may prove beneficial in stroke patients.

[Role of missense mutation (M235T) in the angiotensinogen gene in development of cerebral ischemia]. / Izuchenie roli missens-mutatsii (M235T) gena angiotenzinogena v razvitii ishemicheskoi bolezni mozga.

Possible correlation of M/T polymorphism of angiotensinogen gene with risk of ischemic stroke and basic risk factors of cerebral pathology (levels of arterial pressure and blood cholesterol; presence of diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, or myocardial infarction in anamnesis; and stenosis of major cerebral arteries) was studied. It was shown that M/T polymorphic variants of angiotensinogen gene were factors determining neither clinical variant of cerebral ischemia development (acute ischemic stroke or chronic brain ischemia) nor formation of main risk factors of stroke.