Assessment of mitochondrial DNA mutations in Chinese family with essential hypertension.

Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) mutations played an important role in the development of essential hypertension. Mitochondrial tRNA point mutations, caused the failure in tRNA metabolism, responsible for the pathogenesis of this complex disease. In this study, we evaluated the possible role of the 4329C >G mutation in the clinical expression of hypertension in a Chinese family. Analysis of the complete mtDNA sequence variants showed that other mutations may play synergic roles in the phenotypic manifestation of hypertension. In addition, other potential pitfalls were also discussed in this context.