Genetic associations between miR‑200bT>C and miR‑495A>C polymorphisms and hypertension susceptibility

Although microRNA (miRNA)-mediated functions and gene expression regulation are involved in the susceptibility to vascular diseases, the potential effect of miRNA polymorphisms on the susceptibility of patients to hypertension (HTN) remains to be sufficiently elucidated. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the potential association between miRNA (miR)-200bT>C (rs7549819) and miR-495A>C (rs2281611) polymorphisms, which may be implicated in stroke and vascular pathogenesis, and the susceptibility to HTN and relevant risk factors in a Korean cohort recruited from Jeju National University Hospital (Jeju, South Korea). Using an analysis of PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, genotype analysis was conducted to assess the frequency of miR-200bT>C and miR-495A>C gene polymorphisms in the HTN group (n=232) and the non-HTN healthy control group (n=247). The results showed significant differences in the genotype distributions of the miR-495A>C polymorphism between the HTN and control groups, specifically with the CC genotype and C allele. However, neither the miR-200bT>C nor the dominant and recessive models were found to be distributed differently between the two groups. Following analysis of the genotype combination of the single nucleotide polymorphisms, the TC/CC and CC/CC combined genotypes of the miR-200bT>C and miR-495A>C polymorphisms were observed to be associated with susceptibility to HTN. The haplotype results demonstrated that the allele combination frequency of haplotype C-A was significantly different between the two groups. The stratified analysis revealed that the miR-200b and miR-495 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of HTN, exhibiting differences in the levels of body-mass index (<28.12 kg/m²), fasting blood glucose (<106.26 mg/dl), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<44.29 mg/dl) and systolic blood pressure (≥132.67 mmHg). Data from the present study suggested that the variant of miR-495A>C polymorphism and allelic combinations (haplotype C-A of miR-200bT>C/miR-495A>C) can increase hypertension susceptibility among a Korean population.