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Thromb Haemost 2010; 103(04): 728-735
DOI: 10.1160/TH09-10-0692
Blood Coagulation, Fibrinolysis and Cellular Haemostasis
Schattauer GmbH

A genetic variant in the gene encoding fibrinogen beta chain predicted development of hypertension in Chinese men

Kwok Leung Ong
1   Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Annette W. K. Tso
1   Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Stacey S. Cherny
2   Department of Psychiatry and Genome Research Centre, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Pak Chung Sham
2   Department of Psychiatry and Genome Research Centre, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Karen S. L. Lam
1   Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Chao Qiang Jiang
3   Guangzhou no. 12 Hospital, Guangzhou, China
,
Neil G. Thomas
4   Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, UK
,
Tai Hing Lam
5   Department of Community Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Bernard M. Y Cheung
1   Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
› Author Affiliations Financial support: The Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study-2 was funded by Hong Kong Research Grant Council grants (HKU7229/01M and HKU7626/07M), and the Sun Chieh Yeh Heart Foundation. The genotyping of SNPs in the FGB gene was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China/Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme (30518001/CO301070202 and HKU720/05).
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 08 October 2009

Accepted after major revision: 01 February 2009

Publication Date:
22 November 2017 (online)

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Summary

Fibrinogen, a major determinant of blood viscosity, is an acute phase protein associated with cardiovascular disease. We studied the association of hypertension with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding the fibrinogen β chain (FGB). Three tagging SNPs (rs1025154, rs4220 and rs1044291) were selected from the HapMap database on Han Chinese. Genotypes were determined in 1,294 unrelated subjects from the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study cohort. There were 199 hypertensive subjects at baseline. Among 1,095 subjects normotensive at baseline, 178 developed hyper-tension during a median follow-up period of 6.4 years. Among the three tagging SNPs, rs4220 showed significant association with hypertension at both baseline (odds ratio [OR]=1.49, p=0.004) and at follow-up (OR=1.32, p=0.013). The minor A allele of this SNP was associated with higher plasma fibrinogen level (β=0.144, p<0.001 at baseline and β=0.130, p<0.001 at follow-up). Among subjects normotensive at baseline, this SNP was also associated with the development of hyper-tension in men (OR=1.52, p=0.022), but not in women. The SNP rs4220 in FGB, which leads to the substitution of arginine by lysine at position 448, is independently associated with plasma fibrinogen level and hypertension in Hong Kong Chinese. This suggests a possible causal role of fibrinogen in hypertension development, especially in men.

Keywords

Fibrinogen - hypertension - single nucleotide polymorphisms

 

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