Genetic variants of the class A scavenger receptor gene are associated with essential hypertension in Chinese.

BACKGROUND:The class A scavenger receptor, which is encoded by the macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1) gene, is a pattern recognition receptor (PPR) primarily expressed in macrophages. It has been reported that genetic polymorphisms of MSR1 are significantly associated with many cardiovascular events. However, whether it links genetically to essential hypertension (EH) in Chinese is not defined. METHODS:We performed an independent case-control study in a Chinese population consisting of 617 EH cases and 620 controls by genotyping three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of MSR1. RESULTS:We found that rs13306541 and rs3747531 were significantly associated with an increased risk of EH with per allele odds ratio (OR) of 1.63 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27-2.09; P<0.001] and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.09-1.52; P=0.003), respectively. Individuals with 2-4 risk alleles had a 2.03-fold (95% CI: 1.48-2.78) increased risk of EH compared with those having none of the risk alleles (P for trend <0.001). CONCLUSIONS:Our results indicate that genetic variants of MSR1 may serve as predictive markers for the risk of EH in combination with traditional risk factors of EH in Chinese population.