Yan Lu, Yuhua Shi, Yirui Ge, Jie Yin and Zhenping Huang
Objective: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) gene has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify the associations between VEGFA polymorphisms and DR risk across different populations.
Methods: Published literature from PubMed and EMBASE were retrieved. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed or random-effects model.
Results: Eight studies (1204 cases and 1198 controls) for rs699947 polymorphism and 10 studies (1666 cases and 1782 controls) for rs2010963 polymorphism were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that rs699947 polymorphism was significantly associated with DR among Europeans under a dominant model (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.07–2.02), but not among East Asians under all genetic models. In addition, there was no significant association between rs2010963 polymorphism and DR under all genetic models by ethnicity and type of DR.
Conclusions: The present meta-analysis indicated that rs699947 polymorphism might be associated with the risk of DR among Europeans but not among East Asians; rs2010963 polymorphism was not associated with DR among either ethnic group.