Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) gene -173 G>C polymorphism and its relationship to coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE
Recent studies indicate that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a potent proinflammatory cytokine which mediates the inflammatory process during atherosclerosis. The purpose of the study was to investigate an association between MIF gene polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Turkish population.

METHODS
A total of 139 unselected Turkish patients with significant CAD (coronary lesion with 50–100% stenosis) and 120 control participants (coronary lesion with <30% stenosis) were genotyped for MIF rs755622 polymorphisms using hybridization probes in a Roche LightCycler 480 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction 480 device. Blood samples were drawn before coronary angiography. Gensini and SYNTAX scores were used to determine the angiographic extent and severity of CAD.

RESULTS
When the groups were stratified according to T2DM, polymorphism of MIF was not associated with T2DM in CAD patients (p>0.05). In the same subgroups, carriers of the MIF common allele in the control group demonstrated a protection against developing T2DM compared with noncarriers (p<0.05). In addition, MIF C allele carriage was associated with higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the T2DM group (p=0.038).

CONCLUSION
The MIF rs755622 polymorphism was associated with HbA1c. This result suggests that the MIF gene variant may contribute to CAD risk through diabetes in the Turkish population.