Association of Paraoxonase1 (PON1) Promoter Polymorphism With Blood Pressure Variation in a North Indian

The list of genetic determinants of blood pressure is presently incomplete in spite of complete genome scans. The PON enzyme has been identified to play a central role in cardiovascular health. We hypothesized that the promoter polymorphisms of the PON1 gene are associated with variations in blood pressure. Blood pressure was measured in one hundred forty seven individuals of Jat community of the state of Haryana, Northern India and they were classified as hypertensive and normotensive. The two groups were genotyped for PON gene promoter gene polymorphisms, namely -108C/T, -162A/G and -909G/C. The -909G/C and -108C/T genotypes exhibited significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies among the normotensive and hypertensive groups. The T allele of -108C/T polymorphism was found to be a risk marker for hypertension (OR 1.149, 95%CI 0.135-0.627) and also associated with elevation in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP).