Background: Associations between circulating concentrations of E-selectin, blood pressure and obesity, and between the Leu554Phe (L/F554) polymorphism and blood pressure have been documented.
Objectives: To investigate how the E-selectin L/F554 polymorphism is involved in longitudinal blood pressure changes, and how this polymorphism interacts with body mass index (BMI) on blood pressure.
Design and participants: For this study, 478 men and 546 women were selected from the Stanislas cohort, a French longitudinal study of volunteers for a free health check-up. These individuals underwent two examinations (t(0) and t(+5)) and were not taking medication that can affect blood pressure.
Results: At t(0), no relationship was observed between L/F554 polymorphism and blood pressure. However at t(+5), systolic blood pressure (SBP) was greater in individuals carrying the F allele, and the L/F554 polymorphism was associated with SBP in interaction with BMI (P < 0.001 in men and P < 0.05 for women). There was a steeper increase in SBP with BMI greater than 25 kg/m2 in carriers of the F allele than in LL homozygotes. Similar results were observed for diastolic blood pressure in men (P = 0.0103).
Conclusion: These results suggest a BMI-specific effect of L/F554 polymorphism of the E-selectin gene on blood pressure, and strengthen the hypothesis that E-selectin is implicated in hypertension.