Objective: To investigate the possible genetic associations between the C602A and T1559C polymorphisms of E-selectin (SELE) and essential hypertension.
Methods: Essential hypertensive patients (n = 500) and healthy normotensive subjects (n = 930) were screened for the genotypes C602A and T1559C by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction after DNA extraction to identify representative variations in the SELE gene.
Results: Normotensive subjects and hypertensive patients were significantly different with respect to the genotypes CC, CA and AA, 26 (5.2%), 20 (4.0%) and 454 (90.8%) vs 14 (1.5%), 53 (5.7%) and 863 (92.8%) respectively of C602A. And the C-allele frequency was also significantly different between the NT and EH groups (C, A = 7.2%, 92.8% vs 4.4%, 95.6%). When subgrouped by gender, frequency of CC, CA, AA between normotensive and essential hypertensive males was 14 (4.7%), 11 (3.7%), 272 (91.6%) and 10 (1.7%), 34 (5.8%), 545 (92.5%), which differed significantly (P < 0.05), while in female groups, all the frequency of genotypes were significantly different (P < 0.01) except CC + CA. The additive model (TT, TC, CC) of the T1559C genotype was significantly different between essential hypertensive and normotensive groups overall, 57 (11.4%), 200 (40.0%), 43 (48.6%) and 66 (7.1%), 354 (38.1%), 510 (54.8%), respectively. The T-allele of hypertensive patients significantly differed from normotensive subjects (T, C = 31.4%, 68.6% vs 26.1%, 73.9% respectively). When subgrouped by gender, between the male NT and EH groups, the TT, TC and CC frequency of T1559C were 36 (5.9%), 117 (39.4%), 144 (48.5%) and 35 (5.9%), 230 (39.0%), 354 (55.0%), and the frequency of T vs C was 31.4% vs 68.6% and 26.1% vs 73.9%, which were significantly different (all P < 0.01). As in female NT and EH groups, there were not significant differences existed at all.
Conclusion: C602A and T1559C of SELE are associated with essential hypertension in the Chinese population, and T1559C is closely related with male hypertension other than in females.