A study into the genetic basis of aspirin resistance in Pakistani patients with coronary artery disease.

Aspirin is a key player in the management and prevention of stroke and myocardial infarction in patients with atherothrombosis. About 12% of Pakistanis suffering from coronary artery disease are resistant to aspirin's effects. Clinical, biochemical and genetic factors are known to be responsible for this phenomenon. We conducted this study to investigate whether previously studied polymorphisms in COX-1, GPIIIa, GPIa and P2RYI genes could be the cause of aspirin resistance in our population. Blood samples were collected from 29 aspirin non-responders and 60 ethnically matched responders. Aspirin response assay was performed on IMPACT-R and DNA prepared from blood using the phenol: chloroform method. Genotyping was carried out for four SNPS including COX-1 C50T (rs3842787), GPIIIA PIA1/A2 polymorphism (rs5918), GPIA C807T (rs1126643) and p2RY1 C893T (rs1065776). No statistically significant differences were observed in the allele or genotype frequencies between the aspirin non responders and responders indicating the possible involvement of different genetic determinants of aspirin resistance in our population. This study paves the way for further research into the field of aspirin resistance in Pakistan.