RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISMS OF THE HUMAN RENIN GENE - ASSOCIATION STUDY WITH A FAMILY HISTORY OF ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION

The aim of this study was to elucidate whether human renin gene restri ction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) is associated with essential hypertension. We sampled randomly 45 inpatients at our hospital and d ivided them into two groups according to a family history of essential hypertension, FH(-) and FH(+) groups. The FH(+) group was further div ided into two subgroups based on the level of BP, FH(+) x HT(-) and FH (+) x HT(+) groups. The frequencies of renin gene RFLP patterns were c ompared among three groups: FH(-), FH(+) x HT(-) and FH(+) x HT(+). Am ong 18 restriction endonucleases tested, renin gene RFLPs were detecte d by three restriction endonucleases, Mbo I, Bg I and Hind III, digest ion. There was a significant difference in the distribution of renin g ene Mbo I genotypes among the three groups (chi2 = 13.284, P < 0.01). The distribution of Mbo I genotypes in the FH(-) group was different f rom FH(+) x HT(-) group (chi2 = 5.990, P < 0.05) and FH(+) x HT(+) gro up (chi = 9.210, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference be tween the FH(+) x HT(-) and FH(+) x HT(+) groups. The distribution of renin gene BgI I and Hind III genotypes were similar in the three grou ps, FH(-), FH(+) x HT(-) and FH(+) x HT(+). These results indicate tha t human renin gene Mbo I RFLP is significantly associated with a famil y history of essential hypertension.