The ScaI gene polymorphism of the atrial natriuretic factor and essential arterial hypertension in childhood.

In order to investigate the contribution of the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) gene in pathogenesis of essential arterial hypertension (EAH), we analyzed the ScaI gene polymorphism of the ANF gene in a group of children with EAH. Fifty-eight children, aged 8-19 years, with the diagnosis of EAH were included in the association study and were compared to 57 subjects with normal blood pressure (the control group). Arterial hypertension was defined as systolic/diastolic blood pressure higher than the 95th age-gender-height percentile of the adopted reference values. We failed to demonstrate an association between the ScaI ANF gene polymorphism and EAH in childhood (OR = 2; 95% CI 0.9-4.2; p = 0.07), however, we provided evidence of an interaction between the ScaI ANF gene polymorphism and obesity defined as BMI over the 85th percentile (OR = 13.1; 95% CI 1.6-106; p < 0.001).