Abstract:OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship of -634G/C gene polymorphism of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) in children. METHODS: One hundred ethnic Han children with HSP, including 50 children with concurrent nephritis (HSPN group) and 50 children without nephritis (HSP without nephritis group), were enrolled. Fifty age-, sex-and ethnics-matched healthy children were used as the control group. VEGF-634G/C genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP. Plasma VEGF levels were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: CC genotype distribution (32%) and C allele frequency (56%) in the HSPN group were significantly higher than those in the control group (10% and 35% respectively) and the HSP without nephritis group (10% and 33% respectively) (P<0.01). The incidence of nephritis in HSP patients with CC genotype increased significantly when compared with those with GG genotype (76% vs 31%; P<0.01). Plasma VEGF levels in patients with CC genotype (180.5±40.7 pg/mL) were significantly higher than those in patients with CG (145.2±48.3 pg/mL) and GG (101.5±26.5 pg/mL) genotypes (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: VEGF-634G/C gene polymorphism may be associated with the development of HSPN. C allele may a susceptible gene of HSPN.［Chin J Contemp Pediatr, 2009, 11 (6):417-421］
