TRIB3 rs6037475 is a potential biomarker for predicting felodipine drug response in Chinese patients with hypertension

Background: Our previous studies have found that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) are related to the hypotensive effects of calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. In this study, we aimed at exploring and validating the effect of TRIB3 polymorphism on antihypertensive drugs responses. Methods: A total of 830 hypertensive patients, who were administered with open-labeled hydrochlorothiazide (12.5 mg once daily) and randomly assigned to off-labeled felodipine (5 mg) or a matched placebo combination treatment (1:1), were selected from the Felodipine Event Reduction (FEVER) study. A strategy of screening 259 samples and validating the remaining 531 samples was implemented. Four functional SNPs were selected (rs2295490, rs11470129, rs4815567 and rs6037475 in TRIB3). A mixed linear model was performed to analyze the effects of TRIB3 SNPs on antihypertensive drugs responses. Results: We found that TRIB3 rs6037475 CC genotype was associated with a reduction of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P=6.3×10−3) in the felodipine treatment group of screening set, and was also associated with a reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P=0.021), DBP (P=6.0×10−3) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (P=0.021) in the felodipine treatment group of the validation set. As for the reductions influenced by the rs2295490, rs11470129 and rs4815567 genetic variations, however, the adjusted P-value did not reach statistical significance. Combined screening and validation set analysis found that patients with TRIB3 rs6037475 CC genotype had a significant higher mean SBP, DBP and MAP than those with TT genotype in the felodipine treatment group (CC vs. TT −10.2±0.74 vs. −17.8±0.21, P=7.8×10−3; −4.6±0.50 vs. −10.2±0.23, P=3.0×10−4; −6.5±0.54 vs. −12.7±0.14, P=3.0×10−4, respectively). Conclusions: These results suggest that TRIB3 rs6037475 genetic variation can be useful as a bio-marker for predicting felodipine drug response in Chinese patients with hypertension.