Objective: To investigate whether genetic polymorphism of paraoxonase (PON1192), an enzyme which protects low density lipoprotein from oxidation, is related to the prevalence of arterial hypertension.
Methods: Two groups of carefully selected subjects of both sexes were enrolled and compared. The first group comprised 219 healthy controls (mean age 46.5 +/- 14.7 years) whereas the second comprised 119 hypertensive patients (mean age 47.9 +/- 10.5 years) with untreated essential arterial hypertension. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were within the normal range in both groups. The PON1192 polymorphism was determined by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism approach.
Results: In hypertensive patients, a significant increase of the frequency of PON1192RR genotype with respect to healthy controls (14.3 versus 5.0%, P = 0.003) was found. Logistic regression analyses also showed that the PON1192RR genotype was independently associated with a four-fold increase in susceptibility to arterial hypertension (odds ratio = 4.31; 95% confidence interval = 1.63-11.43, P = 0.003).
Conclusions: The finding that PON1192RR genotype is associated with a higher prevalence of arterial hypertension may contribute to improving the stratification of cardiovascular risk within a population aged 30-60 years. Determination of the PON1192 polymorphism may help to identify those individuals who are prone to developing cardiovascular diseases at an early stage, suggesting the need for close monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors before the onset of cardiovascular disease.