Meta-analysis of association between PITX3 gene polymorphism and Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Several studies had researched the association between the PITX3 gene polymorphism and Parkinson's disease. However, the results were inconsistent. To evaluate whether PITX3 gene polymorphism is involved in the risk of PD we conducted this meta-analysis. All the eligible studies were searched from the databases of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index EXPANDED in any languages up to May 2011. Finally ten studies about PITX3 gene including 5172 patients and 7290 controls were identified for meta-analysis. Meta-analysis was carried out to evaluate whether PITX3 gene polymorphism was associated with PD, and subgroup analysis was also performed when necessary. This meta-analysis finds that rs4919621 allele A was significantly associated with PD in the Caucasian population (P=0.04,). Subgroup analysis of early onset PD (EOPD) and late onset PD (LOPD) revealed that the rs2281983 allele C and rs4919621 allele A were significantly associated with the risk of PD (all of the P values were ≤ 0.0001) in EOPD population. This research indicated that the presence of the rs4919621 allele A significantly increased the risk of PD patients in Caucasian population while rs2281983 allele C and rs4919621 allele A were both risk factors in EOPD.