Inefficient arterial hypertension control in patients with metabolic syndrome and its link to renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system polymorphisms.

There is evidence that uncontrolled arterial hypertension (AHT) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) increases cardiovascular risks. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and its polymorphisms apparently confer a genetic risk for uncontrolled AHT. This study aims to investigate the influence of RAAS polymorphisms on AHT control in patients diagnosed with MS. This is a two-stage population-based nested case-control pilot study (n=1514). We differentiated between MS-diagnosed patients and non-MS patients (ATP-III criteria) and selected those individuals diagnosed with AHT from each group (n=161 and n=156, respectively). Those who successfully controlled their AHT (controls) and those who did not were compared. In the MS population, the C/G and G/G genotypes of single-nucleotide polymorphism rs1040288 (NR3C2) and A/G and G/G of rs11099680 (NR3C2) were associated with uncontrolled AHT (odds ratio (OR)=2.94 (1.34-6.47) and OR=2.54 (1.09-5.93), respectively). According to Akaike's information criteria, the best adjusted model included gender and age as confounding variables (adjusted OR (ORa)=2.91 (1.31-6.46) and ORa=2.67 (1.13-6.31), respectively). Regarding rs1040288, an ORa of 4.03 (1.44-11.26) was obtained for the saturated model (adjusted for gender, age, waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, biochemical profile, renal damage, smoking habit and anti-AHT treatment). Yet, when the same analysis was performed on the non-MS population, no association was found between rs11099680 and the failure to control AHT. The results reveal a possible association between the rs11099680 RAAS polymorphism and uncontrolled AHT in MS-diagnosed patients. rs1040288 appears to be associated with uncontrolled blood pressure regardless of MS profile.