Promoter polymorphism of the beta2 bradykinin receptor gene is associated with essential hypertension.

The present study examined the genetic contribution of the human beta2 bradykinin receptor gene in Japanese subjects with essential hypertension, and identified a -58T/C polymorphism of the core promoter that might be responsible for essential hypertension in Japanese. The study consisted of 100 hypertensive subjects and 100 age- and sex-matched controls. The allelic frequencies were 0.575 for the C allele and 0.425 for the T allele in hypertensive subjects, and 0.465 for the C allele and 0.535 for the T allele in normotensive subjects. The allelic frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Significant differences between hypertensive and normotensive subjects were seen in the genotypes distribution (p=0.049) and allelic frequencies (p=0.028), and the beta2 bradykinin receptor gene variant was associated with human essential hypertension in this Japanese population. This new marker may provide a valuable tool for assessing the risk for putative bradykinin-associated common diseases, such as hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases with genetic determinism. These results suggest that the -58 polymorphism of the human beta2 bradykinin receptor gene is an independent risk factor for essential hypertension in the Japanese population.