Association between 1019C/T polymorphism in the connexin 37 gene and essential hypertension.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between the CX 37 1019C/T polymorphism and the susceptibility to essential hypertension (EH). METHODS: A total of 1126 cases of EH were diagnosed in the People's Hospital of Wuxi City, China. A control group consisted of 874 healthy people, i.e., non-EH patients. All cases were genotyped by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Polymorphism C1019T on the Connexin37 gene was found in the whole population. The distribution of three genotype frequencies in both groups was in accordance with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of the CX37C allele was higher in EH patients (57.4% vs. 42.1%, χ(2)=92.5, P<0.01) compared to the control group. The frequency of C carriers (CC+TC) was 80.5% in EH patients compared to 66.7% in the control (χ(2)=49.0, P<0.01). EH risk was significantly increased in carriers of C the allele (CC+TC) over that in the TT homozygote (OR=2.06, 95% CI 1.68 ∼ 2.52). Subsequent stratified analyses demonstrate that a significant difference exists in the frequency of C carriers between male EH patients and controls (79.2% vs. 69.1%, χ(2)=13.4, P<0.01) and in female EH patients and the control group (81.8% vs. 64.4%, χ(2)=38.7, P<0.01). The carriers of the C allele had higher EH risk compared with the TT homozygote without sex differences (male OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.28 ∼ 2.27; female OR=2.48, 95%CI 1.85 ∼ 3.31). CONCLUSION: The C allele in the CX37 gene might be associated with the susceptibility to EH in population of Wuxi, China.