Association between arterial hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: role of AGT gene polymorphism

Abstract

Abstract Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) continues to cause a heavy health and economic burden in the Europe and around the world. Arterial hypertension (AH) is considered as one of the principal COPD-associated comorbidi-ties. However, no data for association between gene polymorphism and AH in patients with COPD in Ukraine have ever been internationally published. We assessed the genotype and allele frequencies of angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T polymorphisms in patients with COPD and comorbid AH. Methods The study group consisted of 96 patients: Group 1 (25 individuals with COPD), Group 2 (23 individuals with AH) and Group 3 (28 individuals with COPD and AH). The control group consisted of 20 healthy subjects. M/T genotypes of AGT were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Results The results of the study have not demonstrated any significant impact of alleles of AGT genes on the occurrence of diseases such as COPD, AH and combinations thereof. However, analysis of odds ratio has demonstrated the presence of a trend towards a protective role of the M allele of the AGT gene concerning occurrence of COPD, AH and their combinations. At the same time, the presence of the T allele of the AGT gene may increase the risk for occurrence of the above-mentioned diseases. Conclusions The study that we have conducted suggests that the presence of T allele of the AGT gene at position 235 of the peptide chain both in homozygous and heterozygous states may increase the risk for AH in patients with COPD.