Aim: To analyze the impact of polymorphism of a group of genes encoding for endothelial function on the development of target organ lesions in arterial hypertension (AH) in relation to age.
Subjects and methods: Six hundred and seventy-two AH patients (mean age 50.6 years; men 67%) were examined. Microalbuminuria (MAU) was estimated. Electrocardiography, echocardiography, and carotid ultrasonography were performed. A control group comprised 184 subjects. Single-nucleotide substitutions genotyping of the Glu298Asp endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), p22phox of NADPH oxidase subunit C242T, and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (ATR1) A1166C gene polymorphisms was conducted by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) via restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and M235T substitution genotyping of the G-6A polymorphism of the angiotensinogen gene was performed by a real-time allele-specific PCR. The impact of the polymorphisms on the development of MAU, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), carotid lesion was analyzed in the groups: AH was diagnosed in subjects aged less than 35 years (n = 128) or older. The ultrasound signs of carotid lesion, LVH, and MAU were revealed in 65, 39, and 10.5% of the patients with AH, respectively.
Results: The subgroups showed differences in the distribution of polymorphisms of the study genes in relation to age at AH detection.
Conclusion: In patients with AH diagnosed at less than 35 years of age, pathological changes in the carotid are associated with a G allele of the Glu298Asp eNOS polymorphism (odds ratio (OR) = 2.3; p = 0.016) and with an T allele of the p22phox of NADPH oxidase subunit C242T polymorphism (OR 1.7; p = 0.049). In this age subgroup, LVH was associated with an A allele of the Glu298Asp eNOS polymorphism (OR = 1.9; p = 0.037), MAU was with an A allele of the Glu298Asp eNOS polymorphism (OR = 3.6; p = 0.02) and a C allele of the ATR1 A1166C gene polymorphism (OR = 2.6; p = 0.034).