LAUSR

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of apelin-APJ patyway single nucleotide and hypertensive vascular damage through brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Methods: A total of 556 hypertensive subjects, including 173 males and 383 females (aged 58 ± 11.0 years) were enrolled in this study based on a cross-sectional survey in Fujian coastal area. All subjects were given physical examination, laboratory test and baPWV measured. Genotypes of the apelin (rs56204867, rs3761581 and rs3115757) and APJ (rs9943582 and rs7119375) genes were determined by the TaqMan® MGB probe method. Results: Participants were divided into two groups on the basis of baPWV values: control group (baPWV < 1400 cm/s) and arterial stiffness group (baPWV≥1400 cm/s). The average baPWV value was (1266 ± 111)cm/s in the control group and (1764 ± 296) cm/s in the arterial stiffness group. The frequencies of mutant alleles in all five SNPs were not significantly different between the arterial stiffness and control groups (all P > 0.05). After adjusting for age, partial correlation analysis showed that male subjects carrying the apelin rs3115757-C mutant allele had a significantly higher baPWV value than those with the wild-type G allele [(1536 ± 375)cm/s vs (1383 ± 304)cm/s, P = 0.01] (Table 1). Logistic regression data demonstrated that female subjects with the apelin rs56204867-C mutant allele had an increased risk of developing arterial stiffness (OR = 2.087, 95%CI:1.018¡«4.276, P = 0.04). Conclusion: The apelin SNP rs56204867 was associated with reduced arterial elasticity in female hypertensive subjects, which indicates that gene polymorphisms of the apelin-APJ system are correlated with hypertensive vascular damage.