ABSTRACT
Hypertension is a polygenic disease. Various single-nucleotide gene polymorphisms of rennin angiotensin system have been explored in hypertension. Angiotensin II, the major biologically active component of this system, exerts its effect via two pharmacologically distinct subtypes of angiotensin II receptors, the angiotensin II type 1 receptor and the angiotensin II type 2 receptor. To examine whether the 3123 C/A polymorphism of angiotensin II type 2 receptor gene is involved in hypertension in a sample of Tunisian population. A total of 403 normotensive subjects and 382 hypertensive patients were included in the study. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction followed by Alu I restriction digestion. The frequency of "A" genotype was not significantly different between the two groups in men [-2=1.18; p=0.16]. The estimated odds prevalence for hypertension ["A" versus "C"] was 0.77 [95% CI 0.49 to 1.22, p=0.27]. After adjustment for confounding factors, the OR for hypertension remained no significant [OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 0.84-2.63, p=0.16]. In women, genotype distributions for C3123A variant in hypertensive patients were not significantly different from normotensive subjects ["2=3.16; p=0.20]. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the AA genotype was not significantly associated with hypertension [OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.58-2.06, p=0.77]. In the present study, we showed that the 3123 C/A polymorphism of AGT2R gene is not a significant factor for hypertension in a sample of Tunisian population