Association between the val158met polymorphism with susceptibility and severity of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy of the upper extremity. In this study, we aimed to clarify the relationships between the () gene (rs4680) polymorphism and development, functional and clinical status of CTS. Ninety-five women with electro diagnostically confirmed CTS and 95 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The functional and clinical status of the patients was measured by the Turkish version of the Boston Questionnaire and intensity of pain related to the past 2 weeks was evaluated on a visual analog scale (VAS). The polymorphism was determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), method. We divided patients according to the genotypes of the polymorphism as Val/Val, Val/Met and Met/Met. There were not any significant differences in terms of polymorphisms between patients and healthy controls ( >0.05). We also did not find any relationships between the polymorphism and CTS ( >0.05). In conclusion, although we did not find any relationships between CTS and the polymorphism, we could not generalize this result to the general population. Future studies are warranted to conclude precise associations.