The Lack of Relationship between an Endothelin-1 Gene Polymorphism (Ala288Ser) and Incidence of Hypertension: A Retrospective Cohort Study among Japanese Workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Some case-control association studies revealed the relationship between some endothelin-1 (ET-1) gene polymorphisms and blood pressure. Because no report was available about the relationship between any ET-1 gene polymorphism and incidence of hypertension, we examined the relationship between novel ET-1 gene polymorphism (G862T / Ala288Ser in exon 5) and incidence of hypertension by a retrospective cohort study. METHODS: The subjects were Japanese workers at a company in Shimane Prefecture in Japan. The polymorphism with genome DNA extracted from the blood of the workers was analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction confronting two pair primers method. According to the results of two regular health checkups with a 6-year interval, the study population was divided into two groups by blood pressure and antihypertensive treatment in 1998, after excluding people who had hypertension in 1992. RESULTS: There were 133 (93 males and 40 females) incidences of hypertension observed among the study population of 922 (540 males and 382 females). In the univariate analysis, odds ratios o Ala/Ser and Ser/Ser against Ala/Ala were 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI]): 0.7-1.4) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.4-1.6), respectively. In the multivariate analysis adjusted for sex, age, body mass index, serum total cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, and smoking and drinking habits, odds ratios for Ala/Ser and Ser/Ser against Ala/Ala were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.7-1.4) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.4-1.5), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The ET-1 gene polymorphism in this study did not seem to be associated with the incidence of hypertension among the Japanese workers.

Genetic Variation in the Endothelin System

“…Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the genes of preproET‐1, ECE‐1 , CMA, ET A and ET B receptors were identified 42–72 . Some of these SNPs have been investigated in terms of functional relevance and association with cardiovascular ( 1) and noncardiovascular ( 2) phenotypes and/or diseases.…”

Influences of Genetic Variation of Endothelin-1 Gene on Effects of 16-Week Combined Exercise on Clinical and Physical Parameters in Middle-Aged Women

“…In addition, within the ET-1 gene, the existence of several polymorphisms has been confirmed, including the C/T substitution located on intron 4; the existence of such a polymorphism provides means for its use as a genetic marker for the examination whether the ET-1 gene is the causative gene of the outbreak of various clinical diseases (9). According to the results of various genetic epidemiological research studies conducted to date, the polymorphisms of the ET-1 gene have been reported to show a relationship with various clinical diseases, including essential hypertension; however, not all studies have presented congruent results (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18).…”