AGT M235T Polymorphism and Arterial Hypertension in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents an important public health challenge. It is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Arterial hypertension (AH) is considered one of the principal COPD-associated comorbidities. Objective: The study was aimed to assess the role of angiotensinogen (AGT) gene polymorphism in occurrence of AH in patients with COPD. Methods: The study was conducted among 96 patients of them, Group 1 (25 individuals with COPD), Group 2 (23 individuals with AH), Group 3 (28 individuals with COPD and AH). The control group consisted of the 20 healthy subjects. I/D genotypes of AGT were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Plasma AGT activity was determined photometrically by a commercially available kit. Results: The results of the study have not demonstrated any significant impact of alleles of AGT genes on occurrence of such disease as COPD, AH and combinations thereof. However, analysis of odds ratio has demonstrated the presence of a trend towards a protective role of the M allele of the AGT gene concerning occurrence of COPD, AH and their combinations (OR=0.90, OR=0.71 and OR=0.56, respectively). At the same time, the presence of the T allele of the AGT gene may increase the risk for occurrence of the above mentioned disease (OR=1.11, OR=1.4 and OR=1.79, respectively). Conclusion: The study suggests that the presence of Т allele of the AGT gene at position 235 of the peptide chain both in homozygous and heterozygous state may increase the risk for AH in patients with COPD. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2020; 46(3): 176-183