KCNJ11 rs5210 polymorphism and genetic susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and coronary artery disease

Objective  To investigate the association of KCNJ11 rs5210 single nucleotide polymorphism with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Chinese Han population in Qingdao, China. Methods  A total of 246 patients with NAFLD who attended Qingdao Municipal Hospital from December 2018 to September 2019 were enrolled as NAFLD group, 201 patients with CAD were enrolled as CAD group, and 116 patients with NAFLD and CAD were enrolled as NAFLD+CAD group; 342 healthy individuals were enrolled as control group. Fasting venous blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis. Whole blood genomic DNA was extracted, and PCR was used to determine KCNJ11 rs5210 genotype. The chi-square test was used to analyze whether the distribution of KCNJ11 rs5210 gene frequencies met the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, in order to determine whether the tested samples could represent the population. The chi-square test was used to analyze the differences in sex and genotype/allele frequency between groups. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the Bonferroni method was used for further comparison between two groups. The unconditional logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval. Results  Three genotypes (AA, GA, and GG) of KCNJ11 rs5210 were found by gene sequencing. There were no significant differences in rs5210 allele frequency and genotype distribution between the control group, the NAFLD group, the CAD group, and the NAFLD+CAD group (all P > 0.05), and there were still no significant differences after adjustment for sex, age, and body mass index (BMI) (all P > 0.05). For all subjects, the subjects with AA genotype had a higher level of alkaline phosphatase than those with GA genotype (P=0.048); in the NAFLD group, the patients with GA genotype had significantly higher BMI and total bilirubin than those with AA genotype (P=0.042 and 0.002). The unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that elevated BMI was associated with the risk of NAFLD (OR=1.35, P Conclusion  There is no significant association between KCNJ11 rs5210 polymorphism and the risk of NAFLD and CAD in the Chinese Han population in Qingdao.