The obesity-related polymorphism PCSK1 rs6235 is associated with essential hypertension in the Han Chinese population

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin-type 1 (PCSK1) is a prohormone convertase that has an important role in prohormone maturation including the process of prorenin to renin. We studied the association of the PCSK1 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6235 (encoding an S690T substitution) with essential hypertension (EH), obesity and related traits in the Han Chinese population. The rs6235 SNP in the PCSK1 gene was investigated using a case-control study design, with 1034 hypertension cases and 1112 normotensive controls. In this study, the rs6235 SNP was significantly associated with hypertension (OR 1.26, 95% CI (1.10-1.46), P = 0.001); the odds ratios of GC vs GG and CC vs GG were 1.30 (95% CI (1.06-1.58), P = 0.010) and 1.55 (95% CI (1.12-2.13), P = 0.007), respectively. In the controls, the C-allele was associated with increased systolic (P = 0.010) and diastolic (P = 0.010) blood pressure levels. In all of the EH patients and EH patients without a history of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) system-related antagonists, the C-allele was associated with increased plasma renin activity (P = 0.00004 and 0.002, respectively) and aldosterone levels (P = 0.018 and 0.005, respectively). The C-allele was also associated with increased body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.010) in the normotensive controls. In conclusion, the PCSK1 SNP rs6235 was associated with EH and blood pressure in the Han Chinese population, and this association may be mediated by the SNP's effect on RAA levels. rs6235 was also associated with BMI in this population. Hypertension Research (2012) 35, 994-999; doi:10.1038/hr.2012.79; published online 17 May 2012