Expression of ras proto-oncogenes in patients with essential hypertension complicated with left ventricular hypotrophy and in patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease

ABSTRACT

The role of proto-oncogenesis in left ventricular hypertrophy complicating essential hypertension in coronary atherosclerosis was evaluated in this study. To fulfill this aim, the expression of RAS family of proto- oncogenesis was evaluated in the plasma of 16 patients with essential hypertension complicated with left ventricular hypertrophy confirmed by measurement of left ventricular mass in echocardiography and in 19 patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease confirmed and scored by coronary angiography. The results obtained were compared with those obtained from 15 age matched controls. Furthermore, the expression of RAS proto-oncogenesis was correlated with other biochemical markers of coronary atherosclerosis i.e. total cholesterol, oxidized low density lipoprotein [LDL], LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol. The results showed that patients with either essential hypertension or coronary atherosclerosis had significantly higher expression of RAS oncogenesis compared with that of the controls. Meanwhile, hypertensive patients had higher expression compared with coronary atherosclerotic patients and there was high positive correlation between RAS oncoprotein level and left ventricular mass