Variations in Immediate-early Genes Encoding c-Fos, c-Jun and IER5 Transcription Factors are Associated with Ischemic Stroke

Transcription factors make a great contribution in the regulation of mechanisms, which are involved in the preand post-stroke events. The main goal of the current study was to evaluate the potential association of single nucleotide polymorphisms FOS (rs7101, rs1063169), JUN (rs11688) and IER5 (rs6425663) with ischemic stroke in Armenian population. A total 161 patients with ischemic stroke and 165 controls were involved in this study. Transcription factors were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). Association of genotype, allelic and carriage frequencies with ischemic stroke was assessed using Pearson's Chisquare test. Multiple test corrected p values less than 0.05 were considered significant. The data obtained demonstrated a significant negative association between the FOS rs1063169*T, JUN rs11688*A and IER5 rs6425663*T minor alleles with ischemic stroke. On the other hand, the frequency distribution of rs7101*T minor allele of FOS gene and its carriage rate in the group of patients were significantly higher than in controls. Our results indicate that the minor alleles of FOS rs1063169, JUN rs11688 and IER5 rs6425663 SNPs can be considered as protective against ischemic stroke, whereas the minor allele of FOS rs7101 SNP represents a risk factor for this disease.