OBJECTIVESTo identify the possible relationship between polymorphisms of D17S1878 and D17S932 on the Chromosome 17 and risk of essential hypertension (EH).

METHODSThe polymorphisms of D17S1878 and D17S932 were genotyped using Genetic Analyzer in 325 subjects from 67 Chinese families with EH in Liaoning province. The polymorphisms of D17S1878 and D17S932 sites were genotyped using Genetic Analyzer and GeneScan Software; PHASE2.1 Software was used in hyplotype analysis and affected sib pair analysis was used in linkage analysis.

RESULTS61 hyplotypes were found in the study population with 272 hypertensive and 53 normotensive subjects and the frequency of haplotype H1 [(CA)(18)/(CA)(11)] in the hypertensive (15.4%) was significantly higher than that in the normotensive (6.3%, P < 0.05). Affected sib pair analysis could be applied in 180 subjects, the t values of the D17S1878 and D17S932 were 1.88 and 3.95, respectively (both P < 0.05) suggesting that the transitivity and consistency of the D17S1878 and D17S932 in sib pairs from the pedigrees were higher than expected (25%).

CONCLUSIONThe polymorphisms of D17S1878 and D17S932 were possibly linked with predisposing genes of essential hypertension.