Glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and traditional classification in Korean population with cerebrovascular disease

Glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms (GST) were examined in 98 cases with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) to test the hypothesis that GST polymorphisms confer a risk to an individual to develop CVD. Tobacco smoke is a major cause of both cancer and vascular disease. We therefore were stratified the subjects with CVD for smoking status, and then examined whether polymorphisms in this detoxification enzyme gene, GST, influence risk of CVD. Neither GSTM1 nor GSTT1 genotypes in the CVD group was significantly different from the control group (n=230), even in smokers. We attempted the combined analyses for GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes in CVD for smoking status. No significant association observed between the combined genotypes and CVD. We also classified the subjects and control group into four types according to Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Korean Traditional Oriental Medicine, and investigated the association among GST genotypes, CVD, and Sasang constitutional classification. Our observations do not confirm the effect of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes as a risk factor for CVD, even in smokers. Furthermore, we first attempted to evaluate the efficacy of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, and to find an association with CVD.