Association between GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism and febrile seizures:a metaanalysis

Background:Emerging evidence has implied that the GABRG2 gene play a role in the mechanism of febrile seizure(FS),however,the relationship between GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism and the risk of FS remains controversial.This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship of GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism with the susceptibility to FS.Methods:MEDLINE,Embase,Cochrane Library and CNKI databases were searched(until April 6,2019)for eligible studies on the relationship between GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism and FS.We calculated the odds ratios(ORs)by a fixed or random model with the STATA 15.0 software.Subgroup analyses for the ethnicity,the source of the control,and age and sex matching of controls were conducted.Results:A total of 8 studies consisting of 775 FS patients and 5162 controls were included in this study.Based on the overall data,he GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism was not significantly associated with the risk of FS(TT+CT vs CC:OR=0.95,95%CI 0.64–1.41,P=0.80).Notably,the GABRG2 rs211037 variant was significantly associated with decreased risk of FS in Asian populations(TT vs CT+CC:OR=0.63,95%CI 0.45–0.88,P=0.006),but increased risk in Caucasian populations(CT vs CC:OR=1.56,95%CI 1.14–2.15,P=0.006).Significant associations were also detected when healthy controls out of the whole controls were employed for comparison(TT vs CT+CC:OR=0.59,95%CI 0.45–0.77,P<0.001)and when data from studies with age-and sex-matched controls were used(TT+CT vs CC:OR=0.60,95%CI 0.43–0.86,P=0.001).Conclusion:The GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphism may decrease the risk of FS in Asian populations,while increasing the risk in Caucasian populations.Further well-designed studies with large sample sizes are essential to verify the conclusions in other ethnicities.