Polymorphisms of APLN-APLNR system are associated with essential hypertension in Mexican-Mestizo individuals

• We analyzed several polymorphisms in individuals with essential hypertension.
• Genotype and haplotype analysis showed a significant association with this disease.
• Further studies are warranted for confirmed this association in other ethnic groups.

The aim of this study was to evaluate if polymorphisms of APLN and APLNR genes may play a role as susceptibility markers for hypertension in a group of Mexican-Mestizo patients. A case-control study was carried out including normotensive and hypertensive individuals. For these, two polymorphisms of APLN (rs3761581 and rs56204867) and two of APLNR () genes were genotyped by 5′ exonuclease TaqMan assay in 400 normotensive individuals and 383 patients. The results showed that, under an additive model adjusted by BMI, HDL, triglycerides, glucose and family history of essential hypertension, the rs7119375 and rs10501367 polymorphisms of APLNR gene were associated significantly with a decreased risk of essential hypertension (P = 0.039 and P = 0.029, respectively). Besides, the haplotypes analysis of these polymorphisms showed that H1 haplotype was associated with an increased risk of essential hypertension (P = 0.026), while the H2 haplotype was associated with a decreased risk (P = 0.032). Contrary, the rs3761581 and rs56204867 polymorphisms of APLN gene were not associated with essential hypertension (P = 0.1707 and P = 0.0769, respectively). The data suggest that APLNR rs7119375 and rs10501367 are associated with a decreased risk of essential hypertension in our Mexican-Mestizo studied group, but further studies are warranted.