Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between the gene polymorphism of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the advanced retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods Retrievals of the literature in Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and Sino Med Database were conducted. The deadline of searches was December 30, 2013 and search words were vascular endothelial growth factor, retinopathy of prematurity, and polymorphism. References of important papers were retrospectively retrieved. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) relevant to VEGF and advanced ROP were obtained for comparative study and the quality of papers was evaluated. The heterogeneity was estimated by the State 10.0 and the meta analysis was performed according to the results of estimation. Results A total of 9 papers (9 independent studies) with 1745 samples were selected to analyze. The funnel plot showed that there was no significant publication bias. The results of meta analysis indicated that mutations of three alleles, i.e. 405 G→C (rs2010963), －460 T→C (rs833061), and 936 C→T (rs3025039), were not relevant to patients with advanced ROP. Their OR values were 0.95 (95%CI：0.67-1.36，P=0.79), 1.20(95%CI：0.89-1.61，P=0.23), and 1.23(95%CI：0.43-3.53，P=0.7), respectively. Conclusion The polymorphism of 405 G→C (rs2010963), －460 T→C (rs833061), and 936 C→T (rs3025039) of VEGF gene are not relevant to the advanced ROP.

Key words: vascular endothelial growth factor, retinopathy of prematurity, gene polymorphism, meta analysis