Enhanced vasoconstriction to endothelin-1, angiotensin II and noradrenaline in carriers of the GNB3 825T allele in the skin microcirculation.

Hypertension is associated with enhanced peripheral vascular resistance, which may be mediated by enhanced vasoconstriction. The impact of the recently detected G-protein beta3-subunit gene C825T polymorphism on the response to the major pressor mediators has been studied in vivo in the human microcirculation. We assessed the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1), angiotensin II (AT), endothelin-antagonists (BQ-123 and BQ-788) and noradrenaline (NA, each 10-16-10-8 mol) on vasoconstriction in the human skin microcirculation in vivo in 25 healthy male volunteers (13 with CC genotype, 12 TC/TT genotype) using laser Doppler flowmetry. The effects of endothelium-derived vasodilation on NA-induced effects were studied using the NO-synthase inhibitor l-nitro-monomethyl-arginine (L-NMMA) and the alpha2-adrenoceptor-antagonist yohimbine (YO). ET-1, AT and NA caused a dose-dependent vasoconstriction (P < 0.001). In carriers of the 825T allele the response to ET-1, AT and NA was significantly enhanced leading to a shift to the left of the dose-response curve of up to two log units (ET-1: P < 0.001 vs. CC; AT: P < 0.01 vs. CC; NA: P < 0.05 vs. CC). After pretreatment with L-NMMA or YO, NA induced vasoconstriction was no longer different between subjects with the CC- and CT/TT genotypes. However, following combined pretreatment with both L-NMMA and YO, vasoconstriction to NA was significantly potentiated in carriers of the T-allele. Vasodilatation to an ETA-antagonist (BQ-123) was more pronounced in the CT/TT genotype, while ETB-antagonism (BQ-788) led to a more pronounced vasoconstriction in the CT/TT genotype (not significant vs. CC). Healthy, normotensive carriers of the 825T-allele have enhanced vasoconstriction to ET-1, AT and NA in the skin microcirculation. This enhanced vasoconstriction appears to be partially antagonized by an enhanced release of endothelium derived vasodilators mediated by the stimulation of endothelial alpha2-adrenoceptors. The GNB3 C825T polymorphism is potentially an attractive pharmacogenetic marker to predict hormone-mediated responses in humans.