Job stress, gene polymorphism of beta2-AR, and prevalence of hypertension.
OBJECTIVE
To study the interactive effect of job stress and genetic susceptibility (or gene polymorphism) on hypertension.


METHODS
A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in 452 workers from a thermal power plant in China. Extrinsic effort, occupational reward, and over-commitment were measured. Hypertensive patients were defined by three phases of screening, reexamination, and final diagnosis. beta2-AR genotypes and allele frequencies at amino acid positions 16 (beta2-AR-16: Arg-->Gly) and 27 (beta2-AR-27: Gln-->Glu) were identified by PCR-RFLP.


RESULTS
Job stress was related with the prevalence of hypertension in males (P < 0.05), whereas no significant relationship was found in females (P > 0.05). Differences in genotypes and allele frequencies of the beta2-AR-16 were statistically significant between the hypertension and control groups (P < 0.05), whereas those of beta2-AR-27 were not (P > 0.05). The prevalence of hypertension was higher in individuals carrying Gly16 allele than in those carrying Arg16 allele of the high job stress group (P < 0.01 or 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
High job stress and polymorphism of beta2-AR-16 have an interactive effect on the prevalence of hypertension in male workers.
Yu
Shan-Fa
SF
Department of Occupational and Environment Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China.
Zhou
Wen-Hui
WH
Jiang
Kai-You
KY
Gu
Gui-Zheng
GZ
Wang
Sheng
S
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011210:Power Plants; D015995:Prevalence; D018343:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult
D018343:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2