LAUSR

Hypertension has been suggested to be mediated by immunity and inflammation. As immune system genes, killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIRs) genes play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. We conducted a community population‐based case–control study to analyse associations between KIR genes and hypertension. KIR genes were genotyped using sequence‐specific primer polymerase chain reaction in 380 unrelated essential hypertensives and 527 normotensives. The frequencies of KIR2DS5 gene were significantly decreased in participants with high high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) compared with participants with low hsCRP (17.02% vs 34.08%, p = .016). The presence of KIR2DS5 gene was independently associated with decreased risk of hypertension (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.43–0.89), after adjusted for conventional risk factors, hsCRP and other KIR genes. We found that participants with KIR2DS5 gene had a decreased risk of hypertension compared with participants without KIR2DS5 gene. Our findings suggested that KIR2DS5 gene may be protective against hypertension.