title: Meta-analysis of association between ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism and essential hypertension in Asian populations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) is an enzyme that oxidizes acetaldehyde into acetic acid during alcohol metabolism. Many studies indicate that the rs671 GG genotype in the ALDH2 gene may play a critical role in increasing the risk of essential hypertension (EH) associated with alcohol consumption, which predominantly occurs in men. However, the literature is inconclusive in this regard. This meta-analysis aims to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between the rs671 polymorphism and EH for both male and female drinkers and nondrinkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten cohort and case-control studies were included in the analysis with a total of 12,161 subjects; 7,062 patients and 5,099 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show that the rs671 GG genotype was associated with an increased risk of EH compared with the AG+AA genotype (OR = 1.27, 95 % CI = 1.17-1.37, p < 0.00001). When comparing male and female subjects, only among male individuals was a higher risk of EH found in the GG genotype compared with the AG+ AA genotype (OR = 1.59, 95 % CI = 1.40-1.80, p < 0.00001). By contrast, among female subjects, the risk of EH in the rs671 GG genotype did not differ from that detected in the AA + GG genotype. The proportion of patients with EH was significantly higher for the GG genotype carriers than for the AG+AA genotype carriers, both in the subset of drinkers (OR = 1.51, 95 % CI = 1.23-1.86, p < 0.0001) and in that of nondrinkers (OR = 1.22, 95 % CI = 1.01-1.47, p = 0.03). In addition, among carriers of the GG genotype, the risk of EH among the drinkers was similar to that found in the nondrinkers' subset (OR = 1.12, 95 %CI = 0.89-1.41, p = 0.34).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our meta-analysis demonstrates that the rs671 GG genotype increases the risks of EH, especially in men, and is independent of alcohol consumption.
authors.affiliation: Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 200032, Shanghai, PR, China.
authors.forename: S-Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: S-W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: X-L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D K W
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.forename: Z-X
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; C096127:ALDH2 protein, human; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial