Lymphotoxin-alpha gene 252G allelic variant is a risk factor for large-vessel-associated ischemic stroke

A direct role of lymphotoxin-alpha (LTA) in promoting atherosclerotic plaque growth has been demonstrated recently. The different protein transcripts of the naturally occurring genetic variants of the LTA gene have been demonstrated to exhibit affected functions, and an allelic difference in binding to transcription factor(s) has also been suggested. The homozygous variant of LTA characterized by the intron 1 252A-->G (252G) transition, which naturally coexists with an exon 3 804C-->A (804A) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), has been reported as a susceptibility gene for myocardial infarction. Because the atherosclerotic process is also an integral component in the pathogenesis of certain types of vascular stroke, we investigated the possible significance of the above SNPs in 353 ischemic stroke patients and 180 healthy controls. The homozygous LTA allele with the 252G and 804C SNPs occurred more frequently in stroke patients (13.9%) than in controls (7.20%, p