Study of Alpha Adducin Gene Polymorphism in Young Essential Hypertensive North Indians

Introduction: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disorders such as stroke, heart failure, vascular disease, and end-stage renal disease, and is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The polymorphism of α adducin (ADD1) gene & their expression in the related tissue can reveal the mystery of essential hypertension and this can help in diagnosis, prognosis and management of essential hypertension. This gene analysis would provide a better approach for identifying the genotype-phenotype correlations. Objective: This study was designed to examine the relationship between α-adducin gene polymorphism (Gly460Trp) and essential hypertension in North Indian population. Methods: The subjects were recruited randomly including 101 patients of essential hypertension and 151 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymerase (RFLP). Results: We found that frequencies of the alpha adducin Trp alleles in hypertensive and control groups were 0.21 and 0.11, respectively. There was approximately double increase in the 460-Trp allele frequency in the North Indian hypertensives compared with the normotensives. Conclusion: The rs4961 polymorphism of the ADD1 gene is associated with essential hypertension. We found a significant association between the Gly460Trp gene polymorphism of the alpha adducin and hypertension in a North Indian population. Furthermore, the study indicated that alpha adducin might be a susceptible gene to essential hypertension in North Indian population.