High prevalence of three prothrombotic polymorphisms among Palestinians: factor V G1691A, factor II G20210A and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T.
Factor V leiden G1691A/R506Q (FVL), prothrombin G20210A (FII) and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T are related genetic risk factors for venous thromboembolism. Analysis for those mutations is increasingly being performed on patients exhibiting hypercoagulability. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of FVL, FII-G20210A and MTHFR-C677T polymorphisms and their coexistence among apparently healthy Palestinians. After institutional approval, 303 apparently healthy students from An-Najah University representative to North and South regions of West Bank with no previous history of cardiovascular diseases participated in this study. A uniform questionnaire was used to collect relevant information through personal interview with the subjects. The collected information included gender, age, smoking habits, weight and height, diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular and family history of CVD. The frequencies of allelic distribution of the three prothrombotic polymorphisms factor V G1691A/R506Q), prothrombin G2010A, and MTHFR-C677T were 0.114, 0.050 and 0.071, respectively. The prevalence of the three thrombotic polymorphisms (FVL, FII G20210A and MTHFR-C677T) were 20.1, 9.1 and 13.8 %, respectively. Statistical analysis for factor V leiden showed no significant association between place of residence (P value = 0.953) and gender (P value >0.082). The data presented in this study showed the highest prevalence of FVL among healthy Palestinians compared to other populations and this important finding should be followed in terms of clinical significance.