Abstract
Angiotensinogen (AGT) constitutes a central component of the renin‐angiotensin system which controls the systemic blood pressure and several other cardiovascular functions. In order to evaluate the possible role of ATG gene polymorphism in coronary artery disease (CAD)/myocardial infarction (MI), we first sequenced the gene in 200 individuals in search of informative SNPs. Of the >100 SNPs identified, in the present study, we proceeded to evaluate the association with CAD for 3 variants (rs214858C>T, rs5051A>G and rs3789679C>T) in 3246 cases versus 1001 controls by the Applied Biosystems real‐time PCR system. Of these, the rs5051 [Odds ratio(95% Confidence Interval = 1.17(1.05–1.29); p=0.004] conferred risk for CAD, following a dominant model of inheritance [1.42(1.18–1.74); p<0.0001]. Interestingly, the same SNP was also associated, albeit less significantly (p=0.035), with primary hypertension in the same study population. While none of these variants showed a causative relationship with MI per se, the rs3789679 showed weak protective properties against both MI [0.70(0.52–0.94); p=0.019] and CAD [0.76(0.57–1.03); p=0.075). No confounding effect of gender, age, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia or obesity was observed on these relationships. The results indicate that the rs5051 of the AGT gene is a susceptibility locus for CAD, and appears to increase the risk of acquiring hypertension.