Hypertension-susceptibility gene prevalence in the Pacific Islands and associations with hypertension in Melanesia

J Hum Genet. 2013 Mar;58(3):142-9. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2012.147. Epub 2013 Jan 17.

Abstract

Human essential hypertension is partly caused by genetic factors. Angiotensinogen (AGT), G-protein β3-subunit (GNB3) and cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5) are candidate hypertension susceptibility genes and risk alleles at these loci have been thought to arise owing to human adaptation to climatic changes following the migration out-of-Africa. This study aimed to reveal the frequencies of hypertension-susceptibility genotypes in Pacific Island populations and associations of these single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to hypertension. Genotyping was conducted for 804 individuals from Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian populations at SNPs in the genes encoding AGT (rs699, rs5049 and rs5051), GNB3 (rs5443) and CYP3A5*1/*3 (rs776746). Associations between these SNPs and hypertension were tested for 383 Melanesian Solomon Islanders. We found that the A/A genotype at rs5049 was a risk factor for hypertension (P=0.025) in the Melanesian Solomon Islanders; three SNPs for AGT were in linkage disequilibrium. The ancestral alleles of rs699, rs5051 and rs776746, and the derived allele of rs5443 were as frequent in the populations surveyed here as in other equatorial populations. Although other polymorphisms associated with hypertension and additional populations remain to be studied, these findings suggest that the Pacific Islanders' susceptibility to hypertension arose because of human migration and adaptation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Angiotensinogen / genetics*
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A / genetics
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Association Studies*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genetics, Population
  • Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Human Migration
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / epidemiology*
  • Hypertension / genetics*
  • Linkage Disequilibrium
  • Male
  • Melanesia / epidemiology
  • Middle Aged
  • Pacific Islands / epidemiology
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • AGT protein, human
  • G-protein beta3 subunit
  • Angiotensinogen
  • CYP3A5 protein, human
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A
  • Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins