Common Variants in <i>LRP2</i> and <i>COMT</i> Genes Affect the Susceptibility of Gout in a Chinese Population

<div><p>Gout is a common inflammation disease resulting from an increase in serum uric acid. Nearly 70% of uric acid is excreted via the kidneys. To date, evidence for an association between genetic loci and gout is absent, equivocal or not replicated. Our study aims to test variants in two genes abundantly expressed in the kidney, <i>LRP2</i> and <i>COMT</i>, for their association with uric acid and gout. In total, 1318 Chinese individuals were genotyped for rs2544390 in <i>LRP2</i> and rs4680 in <i>COMT</i>. These <i>LRP2</i> and <i>COMT</i> gene polymorphisms showed no significant effect on uric acid (<i>P</i> = 0.204 and 0.188, separately); however, rs2544390 in <i>LRP2</i> did influence uric acid levels in individuals with BMI ≥ 25 (<i>P</i> = 0.009). In addition, the allele frequency distributions of the two loci showed a significant difference between gout patients and healthy controls. A missense variation in rs4680 (G > A) decreased the risk of gout (OR = 0.77, <i>P</i> = 0.015), whereas the T allele of rs2544390 was associated with gout pathogenesis risk (OR = 1.26, <i>P</i> = 0.020). The present study provides the first evidence for an association between <i>COMT</i> and gout. Rs2544390 in <i>LRP2</i> only influenced uric acid levels in individuals with BMI ≥ 25, which might explain the discrepant results among previous studies. In addition, we are the first to identify the association between <i>LRP2</i> and gout in a Chinese population and to confirm this association in Asians.</p></div

Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from each study about the association of the rs2544390 polymorphism and gout in Asians.

<p>A meta-analysis in fixed-effect model was used to test the association.</p