Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 March 2010
Mitral valvar prolapse is the most common anomaly of the mitral valve apparatus throughout childhood. Fibrillin is one of the structural components of the elastin-associated microfibrils found in the mitral valve. A case-controlled study has performed to investigate the relationship between fibrillin 1 gene intron 56 polymorphism and risk of mitral valvar prolapse in Turkish children.
A total of 77 patients with mitral valvar prolapse diagnosed by clinical evaluation and echocardiography and 89 normal children of same age and sex were studied. The fibrillin-1 gene intron 56 polymorphism was identified by the polymerase chain reaction-based restriction analysis.
There was a significant difference in the distribution of fibrillin-1 gene intron 56 genotypes (p = 0.0001) and allelic frequency (p = 0.0001) between the cases and the controls.
Patients with mitral valvar prolapse have higher frequencies of fibrillin-1 gene intron 56 GC genotypes. Healthy children have higher frequencies of fibrillin-1 gene intron 56 CC genotypes. We speculate that the higher frequency of fibrillin-1 gene intron 56 G-allele increases the risk of mitral valvar prolapse.
There is no financial support or relationships that may pose conflict of interest.