The Influence of Cat - 262 C/T Polymorphism on Catalase Activity in Patients With Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Although there is a disturbance of oxidative stress markers in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), genetic contribution of-262C/T polymorphism of catalase (CAT) gene on plasma CAT activity in this disease is not yet established. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of CAT-262C/T polymorphism in AIS patients compared to controls, as well as to evaluate whether this polymorphism can influence plasma CAT activity. A total of 34 patients with AIS and 32 healthy volunteers were screened for the CAT-262C/T gene polymorphism using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method (PCR-RFLP). Plasma CAT activity was determined using spectrophotometric method according to Goth. Although the patients with the diagnosis of AIS had a higher frequency of polymorphic-262T allele in comparison to the group of healthy subjects, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.117). CAT activity was significantly lower in the patients (12.95 ± 2.86 kU/L) compared to the controls (25.58 ± 13.50 kU/L, p < 0.001). The patients carriers of the-262T allele, showed significant decrease of plasma CAT activity (11.93 ± 2.82 kU/L) compared to the patients with genotype-262CC (13.99 ± 2.59 kU/L, p = 0.039). This is the first study examining the CAT-262C/T polymorphism and its influence on plasma CAT activity in AIS. Bearing in mind that the presence of-262T allele in AIS patients significantly decreased plasma catalase activity compared to CC genotype carriers, further studies should be focused on the testing of the potential protective role of the-262CC genotype in ischemic stroke.