Abstract: Objective: To investigate the correlation between the G487A variant of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2(ALDH2) gene polymorphisms and myocardial infarction in Chinese Han patients with coronary heart disease. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-one patients with coronary heart disease, who were identified by coronary angiography, were enrolled in this study. The genotypes of ALDH2 were determined by the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. The patients were divided into two groups according to the genotypes: the GG genotype group (n=145) and the AA/AG genotypes group (n=86). The differences between the two groups and the risk factors for myocardial infarction were assessed. Results: The prevalence of myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus was significantly higher in the ALDH2 AA/AG genotypes group than in the GG genotype group (P＜0.01), but other basic clinical data were similar between the two groups. After adjustment for age, sex, smoking, family history of cardiovascular disease, total cholesterol and diabetes mellitus using a multi-variable logistic regression, the AA/AG genotypes were an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction (OR=3.42, P＜0.01). However, inclusion of hypertension as one of the independent variables downplayed the importance of the ALDH2 genotype (OR=3.03, P=0.03), and inclusion of hypertension, alcohol consumption and HDLcholesterol further downplayed the importance of the ALDH2 genotype (P=0.23). Conclusion: The ALDH2 AA/AG genotypes maybe an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction, which might be due to its influence on blood pressure, alcohol consumption and HDLcholesterol.

Key words: Myocardial infarction, Gene, Polymorphism, single nucleotide, Aldehyde dehydrogenase-2