The impact of endothelin-1 genetic analysis and job strain on ambulatory blood pressure.

OBJECTIVE

An interaction between the endothelin-1 gene (EDN1), blood pressure (BP) and social determinants has been previously found. Using a well-characterized cohort of participants, the impact of associations between genetic factors and job strain on BP was evaluated.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analysis of five polymorphisms covering the EDN1, of which 2 were previously reported to be associated with BP, was performed. Study subjects had previously completed a baseline evaluation including 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring and an assessment of job strain. This report presents the findings for 184 subjects who gave DNA samples for genetic analysis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed between each genetic marker and 24-h systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), as well as two-way ANOVAs to test the interaction effect with job strain.

RESULTS

Trends for relationships were observed between SBP and two polymorphisms: rs10478694 and rs5369. An interaction between job strain and those heterozygous for two polymorphisms showed higher SBP (P=.029 and .008) and a tendency for higher DBP. All findings were more significant when analyses were confined to the 139 Caucasian subjects.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to report an interaction between the EDN1 gene, job strain and BP, supporting previous evidence of a role of this gene in the interaction between environmental stress and ambulatory BP. Given the limited sample size, the results should be considered preliminary, and further studies are required.