[Angiotensinogen and angiotensin-I converting enzyme gene variations in Chinese pregnancy induced hypertension].

Objective: This study was designed to observe the genotype and allele frequency of angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) genes in pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and compare them with those in normal pregnant women.

Methods: Eighty-one women with pre-eclampsia (median age 28 years) and 205 normal pregnant women as controls (median age 28 years) from a population of Chinese Han nationality in Chengdu area participated in this study. The pregnant patients whose blood pressure exceeded 140/90 mmHg (or 18.7/12 kPa) were recruited with a rigorous definition of pre-eclampsia. Genotyping was performed using PCR-amplified DNA fragment for ACE I/D and PCR-RFLP for AGT polymorphism.

Results: The allele frequencies of AGT235T and ACE D in PIH and normal pregnant women were 0.856 vs. 0.846 and 0.333 vs 0.364, respectively. No significant difference in these allele frequencies was observed between PIH and normal pregnant women. The allele frequencies of ACE D in Caucasians were higher than those in Chinese population (P < 0.001). The allele frequencies of AGT235T in Caucasians (0.350-0.482) and other populations (0.620-0.739) were lower than that in Chinese (0.846) (P < 0.01, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: There was no evidence in this study for the association of AGT M235T and ACE I/D polymorphism with pre-eclampsia in Chinese population in Chengdu area.