Interaction between Serotonin 2A Receptor and Endothelin-1 Variants in Association with Hypertension in Japanese

Serotonin has been implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension because of its ability to induce vasoconstriction via stimulation of serotonin 2 (5-HT2) receptors. Recently, an association between the T102C functional polymorphism of the serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor gene and hypertension in the UK has been reported. Another association study, however, failed to replicate this association in a Chinese population. We therefore investigated the possible association between the 5-HT2A T102C polymorphism and hypertension in two large Japanese populations (n=2,968 total). We also investigated the possible interaction between the 5-HT2A T102C polymorphism and the G/T (Lys198Asn) polymorphism of the endothelin-1 (ET-1) gene, based on robust biological evidence for the existence of an interaction between the serotonin and endothelin systems. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the frequencies of the alleles and genotypes between the hypertensive and normotensive subjects. However, a significant interaction between the 5-HT2A T102C and ET-1 G/T polymorphisms in their association with hypertension (p=0.0040) and with diastolic blood pressure (p=0.0013) was revealed. A marginally significant interaction in the association with systolic blood pressure was also shown (p=0.045). The associations of the 5-HT2A T102C polymorphism with hypertension and diastolic blood pressure in ET-1 T allele carriers were significant (p=0.0056 and 0.021, respectively). The association of the 5-HT2A T102C polymorphism with systolic blood pressure in ET-1 T allele carriers was marginally significant (p=0.054). Thus, the present study suggests that the 5-HT2A T102C and ET-1 G/T polymorphisms are interactively associated with hypertension.