The APLNR gene polymorphism rs7119375 is associated with an increased risk of development of essential hypertension in the Chinese population

Hypertension (HT) has recently been defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) of ≥130 mm Hg and/or a diastolic BP of ≥80 mm Hg. It is important to further understand the pathophysiology of essential HT as its proportion is larger among most of the diagnosed HT cases. The apelin and apelin receptor (APLNR) are known to play roles in regulating BP, but the putative associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the APLNR gene with the risk of development of essential HT have not yet been fully investigated. Herein, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms in the APLNR gene and the risk of essential HT. We conducted a search in the PubMed and Web of Science databases for eligible studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models when heterogeneity was expected across the studies. Otherwise, fixed-effect models were used. Regarding the SNP rs7119375, 5 studies were analyzed, which included a total of 3567 essential HT patients and 3256 healthy controls. Four of the 5 studies were from China and 1 was from Mexico. The meta-analysis showed the existence of a significant association between the AA genotype of rs7119375 and the risk of developing essential HT in the Chinese population, as determined using additive and recessive models (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.12–3.96; I2 = 86% for AA vs GG. OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.21–1.94; I2 = 28% for AA vs AG. OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.13–3.12; I2 = 79% for AA vs AG + GG). Our study showed, for the first time, the existence of an association between rs7119375 and the risk of development of essential HT in the Chinese population, although the sample size was small and there was considerable population heterogeneity. The apelin/APLNR system could be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of essential HT, and more studies are warranted to further investigate the association.