Epidemiological Study of AGT Gene Polymorphism among Chinese Subjects with Primary Hypertension

Abstract

Background: Polymorphisms in the promoter region of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene may affect AGT transcription and thus blood pressure. We determined the frequency of the AGT A-20C polymorphism in Chinese patients with primary hypertension. Using a molecular epidemiology approach, we also determined the relationship between primary hypertension and environmental-AGT A-20C polymorphism interactions. Methods: 912 subjects diagnosed with primary hypertension were analyzed from Shenyang Chinese Populationsand their samples were genotyped using A-20C polymorphism within angiotensinogen (AGT) gene by o€€µestriction o€€©ragment o€€¯ength Polymorphism methods (PCR-RFLP) Results: PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques were used to determine the distribution frequency of AGT A-20C alleles. Frequencies of 84.7% and 15.3% were observed for the A and C alleles, respectively. The polymorphism was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium according to a χ2 test (χ2=0.58, P>0.05). Linear regression of AGT genotype and blood pressure revealed that systolic blood pressure was significantly higher for AC and CC genotypes compared to the wild-type AA genotype in females (P<0.05). Conclusion: This is the first report on the frequency of AGT A-20C polymorphism in a Chinese population. Compared to the AA genotype, the effects of genotypes AC and CC on blood pressure were mainly manifest as significantly higher systolic blood pressure in females.