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(Hypertension. 1999;34:e8.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor - Web

G Protein ß3 Subunit 825T Allele and Hypertension

Winfried Siffert; Dieter Rosskopf

Institut für Pharmakologie

Raimund Erbel

Abteilung für Kardiologie Universitätsklinikum, Essen, Germany

Eberhard Ritz

Abteilung für Nephrologie Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

	Introduction

 
To the Editor:

We recently described a C825T polymorphism in the gene GNB3 encoding the ß3 subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. One mutant allele generates a novel splice variant of Gß3 and is associated with enhanced G protein signaling. This allele was more frequent in patients with essential hypertension. Although the case for noncaucasian populations is less clear, three independently conducted studies have confirmed a statistically significant association of the 825T allele with hypertension in caucasians.

In a recent issue of Hypertension, Brand et al report their results on the association of the 825T allele with hypertension in two cohorts, ie, the study subjects of the previously reported PEGASE and ECTIM studies. Brand et al found no association of the 825T allele with hypertension. This finding is puzzling but might well be explained by some peculiarities of the design of the studies. Normotension was defined as diastolic blood pressure <95 mmHg in a population with ages as low as 25 years. This definition invites misclassification. Whether young normotensive individuals should be included in such a case-control study appears questionable. Allele frequency (31.3%) of the normotensive control group (Table 2) is significantly higher than that reported in previous studies.

Interestingly, comparison of combined genotypes of the hypertensive individuals from Table 2 (87 TT, 302 TC, and 292 CC) with combined controls from the ECTIM study presented in Table 1 (58 TT, 269 TC, and 306 CC) yields a significant odds ratio for hypertension (TT versus CC) of 1.57 (95% CI: . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Eva Brand

Department of Internal Medicine Division of Endocrinology and Nephrology

Stefan-Martin Herrmann

Institute for Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Universitaetsklinikum Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Laurence Tiret

INSERM Unit 525, Epidemiologic and Molecular Genetics of Cardiovascular Diseases, Paris, France