title: Association between hepatocyte growth factor gene polymorphism and essential hypertension.
abstract: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a growth factor which contributes to protection and/or repair of vascular endothelial cells. Serum HGF level is elevated in response to hypertensive organ damage, which suggests that blood pressure regulation may be affected by HGF gene polymorphisms via serum HGF. To examine the interaction between a HGF gene polymorphism and hypertension, we carried out a case-control study. The present study was conducted in outpatients of Osaka University Hospital. Subjects (n=654) who gave informed consent to the study protocol and genetic analysis were recruited. A C to A nucleotide substitution in intron 13 of the HGF gene was determined by the TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method using an MGB (Minor Groove Binder) probe. The genotype distribution of the C/A polymorphism of the HGF gene in total subjects was as follows: CC, 83%; CA, 16%; and AA 1%. This distribution was not significantly different from the predicted by Hardy-Weinberg's equilibrium. The prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in subjects with the CC genotype than in those with an A allele, and the positive association remained after adjustment for confounding factors, with the estimated odds ratio for hypertension (CC vs. CA+AA) being 1.71 (95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.93). A significant association with hypertension was observed in lean or female subjects but not in obese or male subjects. In conclusion, our data suggested that C/A polymorphism in intron 13 of the HGF gene is associated with susceptibility to essential hypertension in lean or female subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motone
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsuya
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwashima
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Yuxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohishi
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rakugi
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogihara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor