title: STK39 polymorphism is associated with essential hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A recent genome-wide association study identified STK39as a candidate gene for blood pressure (BP) in Europeans. Subsequently, several studies have attempted to replicate the association across different ethnic populations. However, the results have been inconsistent.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We performed a meta-analysis to elucidate the association between the STK39 rs3754777 polymorphism (or proxy) and hypertension. Published literature from PubMed and Embase databases were retrieved and pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed- or random-effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using appropriate inclusion/exclusion criteria, we identified 10 studies that included 21, 863 hypertensive cases and 24, 480 controls from different ethnicities. The meta-analysis showed a significant association of STK39 rs3754777 variant with hypertension (OR = 1.10, 95%CI = 1.06-1.15, p = 7.95 × 10(-6)). Further subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested that the association was significant in Europeans (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.03-1.14, p = 0.002) and in East Asians (OR = 1.16, 95%CI = 1.07-1.25, p = 4.34 × 10(-4)), but not in Africans (OR = 1.01, 95%CI 0.80-1.27, p = 0.932). We further confirmed the positive association by sensitivity analysis. No publication bias was detected (Begg's test, p = 0.721; Egger's test, p = 0.744).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present meta-analysis confirms the significant association of STK39 polymorphism with susceptibility to hypertension in Europeans and East Asians. Future studies should include gene-gene and gene-environment interactions to investigate the identified association.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Maternal and Child Health Care, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Giriraj R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Chandak
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Si-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Mou
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C486409:STK39 protein, human