Aim:
Background: Coronary artery disease is the main leading factor for disability and increased health-care expense worldwide, so, it leads to mortality and morbidity in most countries. The cause of Coronary artery disease may be interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The implication of many genes in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease is an area of ongoing research. Aims: to study the impact of the estrogen receptor beta polymorphisms rs4986938 (AluI) and rs1256049 (RsaI) on ischemic heart disease as well as the atherogenic index in Iraqi population.

Material and methods:
Patients and Method: A case-control research study was conducted on a sample of Coronary artery disease patients in addition to a group of normal individuals. Serum lipid concentrations were measured in the participants, and the ER gene (rs1256049, rs4986938) was genotyped by PCR- RFLP.

Results:
Results: Atherogenic serum lipid concentrations increased significantly in Coronary artery disease patients relative to the control group. Genotyping of the estrogen receptor β gene forrs4986938 SNP revealed a significant (OR=2.79, P=0.000) elevation of the GA genotype carriers in Coronary artery disease versus the control groups. The genotype analysis of thers1256049 SNP failed to exhibit a significant variation. Atherogenic index and serum lipid concentration markedly elevated with these polymorphisms.

Conclusions:
Conclusion: The polymorphisms of ESRβ rs4986938, (not for rs1256049) was associated with risk of Coronary artery disease and implicated in changes of serum lipid concentrations and atherogenic index in Iraqi population. Additional studies of ESRβ genetic variation and risk of CVD are warranted.