Association between prostaglandin E2 receptor gene and essential hypertension

BACKGROUND: Essential hypertension (EH) is a complex multifactorial polygenic disorder that is thought to result from an interaction between an individual's genetic makeup and various environmental factors. In the kidney, prostaglandins (PGs) are important mediators of vascular tone and salt and water homeostasis, and are involved in the mediation and/or modulation of hormonal action. In previous studies, mice deficient in the prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) EP2 receptor had resting systolic blood pressure (BP) that was significantly lower than that of wild-type controls. The BP of those mice increased when they were put on a high-salt diet, suggesting that the EP2 receptor is involved in sodium handling by the kidney. In the present study, we investigated the association between EH and nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene encoding the prostaglandin E2 receptor subtype EP2 (PTGER2). METHODS: We selected three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the human PTGER2 gene (rs1254601, rs2075797, and rs17197), and we performed a genetic association study of 266 EH patients and 253 age-matched normotensive (NT) controls. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in overall distribution of genotypes or alleles of any of the SNP between the EH and NT groups. However, among men, the A/A type of the SNP rs17197 (rs17197, A/G in 3'UTR) was significantly more frequent in EH subjects than in NT subjects (P=0.041). CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that rs17197 is useful as a genetic marker of EH in men.