Abstract
It has been reported that endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( ecNOS) gene polymorphism is associated with the risk of CHD, acute myocardial infarction ( AMI) and atherosclerosis but hitherto no subjects with a family history of CHD have been examined. 292 native Saudi males of matching ages were drawn from normal, healthy male volunteers attending the blood bank at Alshmasee and the King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Blood samples were collected for the determination of lipids profiles using routine laboratory methods and Genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The genotype frequencies for bb, ab and aa were 31.5, 53 and 5.5% respectively and the calculated allele frequencies for the ecNOS4b (0.65) and ecNOS4a (0.35) were not statistically different. The subjects were divided according to the family history of CHD, with an excess of individuals homozygous for bb and aa among the subjects who have a history of CHD standing at 61% and 12%, compared with those who do not have a history of CHD (59% and 4% respectively, p = 0.04). The ecNOS gene was found to be associated with family history of Coronary heart disease in Saudis male subjects more attention to these patients should be considered.