title: Plasma adrenomedullin level is related to a single nucleotide polymorphism in the adrenomedullin gene.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adrenomedullin (ADM) plays an important role in inflammation and is a marker of future cardiovascular events. We studied common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding ADM and their relationship with the plasma levels of ADM and other inflammatory markers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma ADM, interleukin 6 (IL6), fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 476 subjects from the population-based Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study-2. Four tag SNPs in ADM were genotyped.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma ADM level increased with decreasing plasma IL6 level (β=-0.116, P=0.014). Plasma ADM level was not related to plasma levels of CRP and fibrinogen, and other clinical characteristics, except age (P=0.049). The four SNPs, rs3814700, rs11042725, rs34354539, and rs4910118, had minor allele frequencies of 31.1, 28.7, 33.8, and 23.4% respectively. Carriers of the minor allele of rs4910118 had a mean plasma ADM level that was 10.5% (95% confidential interval: 2.5-17.8%) lower than the non-carriers (β=-0.115, P=0.011). Haplotype analysis revealed a similar significant association with plasma ADM (P=0.040). In multivariate analysis, the presence of the minor allele of rs4910118, but not plasma IL6, was independently associated with plasma ADM (P=0.010).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma ADM correlates with plasma IL6 level, consistent with its role in inflammation. It is related to an SNP common in Chinese, independent of other covariates. ADM genotype should be included in future studies of cardiovascular risk prediction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Research Centre of Heart, Brain, Hormone and Healthy Aging, School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. mycheung@hku.hk
authors.forename: Bernard M Y
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Kwok Leung
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Annette W K
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Tso
authors.forename: Raymond Y H
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Stacey S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Cherny
authors.forename: Pak Chung
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Sham
authors.forename: Tai Hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Karen S L
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D053607:Adrenomedullin / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D053607:Adrenomedullin; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein