Association of polymorphisms in vascular endothelial growth factor gene with the age of onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

This study investigated the association between polymorphisms in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene (‐1558C‐T, ‐1190A‐G and ‐1154A‐G) and age at onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Between July 2000 and June 2004 we conducted a clinical genetic study at Peking University Third Hospital, China. The analyses included a total of 93 ALS patients. Genotyping was performed by using the 5′‐nuclease assay technology (Applied Biosystems) with TaqMan® allele‐specific fluorogenic oligonucleotide probes. We used multivariate linear regression modelling and haplotype‐based association test to analyse the association of VEGF gene polymorphisms with the age of onset, adjusting for initial symptoms and sex. The results indicated that patients with the ‐1190A/G and ‐1190G/G genotypes exhibited about a 4.1‐ and 9.4‐years earlier onset of ALS than the patients with the ‐1190A/A genotype. A similar pattern emerged when the VEGF ‐1154A‐G gene was considered: the β was −7.9(p<0.001) years and −11.7(p<0.00...