Impact of lifestyle modification practices and pharmacogenetics of ACE I/D gene polymorphism in grade 1 hypertensive patients

A BSTRACT Background: Hypertension is a chronic disease whose prevalence is gradually increasing in society. It causes disease burden for a country, especially in low and middle-income countries. The present study aimed at analysing the impact of lifestyle modification practices and the role of pharmacogenetics of anti-hypertensive drugs in hypertensive patients susceptible to ACE I/D polymorphisms. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was done on 447 hypertensive patients (grade 1) with age >20 years, both genders, with and without co-morbid diseases, taking anti-hypertensive drugs for more than one year, were recruited for the study. By convenience sampling method, 100 hypertensive patients taking amlodipine (5 mg/day) or telmisartan (20 mg/day) for more than one year were enlisted from the initially recruited study group, along with 100 healthy volunteers. Results: Patients who practiced various lifestyle modifications were seen to have good control ( P < 0.05) of hypertension. ACE I/D gene polymorphism was significantly ( P = 0.04) associated with hypertension when compared to control subjects. The distribution of the study subjects showed deviation from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium ( P = 0.001). Amlodipine (5 mg/day) in ACE II and telmisartan (20 mg/day) in ACE DD genotype showed better control of blood pressure among the study population. Conclusion: The present study showed that lifestyle modification along with individualized drug therapy is vital in controlling blood pressure in grade 1 hypertensive patients.