Angiotensin II Receptor Gene A1166C Variant and Hypertension in Tunisian Population

Many genes have been proposed as candidate genes for hypertension. Among these genes, the angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene (AGTR1) has been investigated in the pathogenesis of hypertension, but studies have often generated controversial results. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the A1166C variant of the AGTR1 and hypertension in a sample from the Tunisian population. Analysis of the AGTR1 genotypes was performed in 388 Tunisian patients with hypertension and 428 healthy subjects by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The results shows that the AGTR1 genotypes distribution and allele frequencies were not significantly different between the hypertensive and normotensive subjects (p>0.05). This polymorphism was not associated with hypertension (OR = 1.03, 95% CI [0.47-2.24]; p = 0.58) for AC and (OR = 1.19, 95% CI [0.65-2.19]; p = 0.83) for CC in comparison to the AA wild homozygous. After adjustment for the confounding factors of age, gender, body mass index, fasting glucose concentration, dyslipidemia and smoking, the OR for hypertension remained no significant (OR = 1.28, 95% CI [0.87-1.84]; p = 0.50) for CC vs AA. Furthermore, no relationship was found between clinical characteristics and AGTR1 genotypes. In the conclusion; our data suggested that the A1166C variant of the AGTR1 is not involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension in the Tunisian population.