Abstract
BACKGROUND The association between 3 well known SNPs - miR-146a C/G (rs2910164), miR-196a2 T/C (rs11614913), and miR-499 A/G (rs3746444) - in pre-miRNA sequences and ischemic stroke (IS) are still conflicting and inconclusive. This meta-analysis aimed to pool previous studies get a more precise assessment of the association between these 3 SNPs and the risk of IS. MATERIAL AND METHODS Relevant studies were searched in online databases. The strength of the association between the SNPs and IS were estimated by pooling odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Review Manager (version 5.3). RESULTS Rs2910164 C allele was associated with lower IS risk. But this trend was only observed in Koreans under the allele model (OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.68-0.95, p=0.009), dominant model (OR=0.68, 95% CI=0.50-0.93, p=0.02), recessive model (OR=0.79, 95% CI=0.63-1.00, p=0.05), and homozygous model (OR=0.63, 95%CI=0.45-0.88, p=0.007). Rs11614913 T allele might be associated with higher IS risk under the dominant model (OR=1.45, 95% CI=1.19-1.78, p=0.0003), while rs3746444 A allele might be associated with decreased IS risk under the homozygous model (OR=0.48, 95% CI=0.23-0.98, p=0.04) only in Chinese, but not in Koreans. CONCLUSIONS Although the 3 SNPs might be associated with IS, the association varied significantly in different countries.