ANALYSIS OF 2 VARIANTS OF THE ANGIOTENSINOGEN GENE IN ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSIVE AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Two mutations (T174M and M235T) in the angiotensinogen gene have been reported to be associated with hypertension. This study examines the f requency of these mutations among African-American hypertensive patien ts (n = 109). The allele frequency of the T174M mutation was 4.6% and the frequency of the M235T mutation was 86.7%. The genotypic frequenci es agreed with the conditioned Hardy-Weinberg predictions based on all ele frequencies. The homozygote wild-type genotype at the T174 site wa s more frequent than the mutation and occurred at a rate of 91.7%. Con versely, the homozygote for the mutation at the M235 site was more fre quent and occurred at a rate of 75.2%. Mutation frequencies for T174M and M235T in this African-American population differ from those previo usly reported from a white hypertensive population (P = .0058 and P = .00001, respectively). In summary, the representation of the angiotens inogen allele frequencies differ among hypertensive populations.