Genetic Factors Contributing to the Pathogenesis of Essential Hypertension in Two African Populations

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association of genetic variants, including RAAS variants, and essential hypertension in a cohort of African patients. Design and method: Two hundred and seventy-seven hypertensive patients and one hundred and seventy-six normotensive individuals were genotyped for 79 variants. The cohort could be further stratified on the basis of ethnicity, namely the Mixed Ancestry and the Xhosa-speaking populations. Genotyping was performed using the medium-throughput Illumina Golden Gate Bead Express assay and allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Results: The association of variants with essential hypertension was assessed using the Fisher Exact test, while multivariate logistic regression was used to predict the development of hypertension. Five variants in RAAS genes (CYP11B2 rs179998, AGT rs5051 and rs699, AGTR1 rs5186 and ACE rs4646994) were significantly associated with essential hypertension in the cohort under study. After multinomial logistic regression, rs5186 and rs699 were identified as risk factors for the development of hypertension. Conclusions: In the Mixed Ancestry and Xhosa populations of South Africa, an association was observed between RAAS-related genes and the development of hypertension.