OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of the AGT gene M235T variant with essential hypertension in Han population of Zhejiang Province.

METHODSThe study included 230 subjects: 116 hypertensive patients and 114 normotensive controls. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with restrictive fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used to detect the M235T variant of angiotensinogen (AGT) gene. Blood pressure, body height and weight, fasting blood glucose and serum lipid were measured in all subjects.

RESULTS(1)The systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure of hypertensive group were significantly higher than those of control group, while no significant difference was observed with regard to age, gender, body mass index, blood glucose, or lipid profile. (2)The genotype distribution of AGT gene in both groups was in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. (3)The genotype distribution of the M235T variant differed significantly in hypertensives and controls (chi(2)=6.966,P<0.05). The frequencies of genotype TT and T235 allele in hypertensives were higher than those in controls (TT genotype: 0.47 compared with 0.33, chi(2)=5.36,P<0.05; T235 allele: 0.71 compared with 0.60, chi(2)=6.179, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe molecular variant M235T of the AGT gene is significantly associated with essential hypertension in this population. The genotype TT or allele T235 might be a genetic risk factor for hypertension.