Lack of association between a functional genetic variant of connexin 37 and ischemic stroke in a Taiwanese population

Introduction: Connexin 37, encoded by the GJA4 gene, protects against atherosclerosis. A recent study reported an association between polymorphism rs1764391 at GJA4 and ischemic stroke in a Chinese population. We aimed to replicate this result. Materials and Methods: A total of 958 ischemic stroke patients and 2196 controls were enrolled for the study. All participants were Chinese residing in Taiwan. Logistic regression analysis with adjustment for traditional risk factors was used to estimate the genetic effect. We also performed stratification analyses by sex and stroke subtypes. Literature reviews were conducted for available genetic association studies investigating rs1764391 and cardiovascular phenotypes. Results: We did not find any significant association for overall stroke (p = 0.87) or from any subset analyses. Eight studies addressing the associations between rs1764391 and cardiovascular phenotypes had a sample size greater than 1000. Including the present study, five out of the eight large-scale studies found no association. Conclusions: GJA4 polymorphism is not associated with stroke risk in the Taiwanese population.