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Abstract: A common polymorphism of uncoupling protein 2 gene is associated with hypertension. Ji Q, Ikegami H, Fujisawa T, Kawabata Y, Ono M, Nishino M, Ohishi M, Katsuya T, Rakugi H, Ogihara T. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan. OBJECTIVES: The genes responsible for obesity are also candidate genes for obesity-related conditions, such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. A functional polymorphism in the uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) promoter has been reported to be associated with obesity in Caucasians. To clarify the contribution of this polymorphism to obesity and related conditions, we studied the association of the -866 G/A polymorphism of the UCP2 gene with obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total of 632 unrelated Japanese subjects were studied: 342 type 2 diabetic patients (among them, 158 patients complicated with hypertension), 156 hypertensive patients without diabetes mellitus and 134 control subjects. The -866 G/A polymorphism of UCP2 was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: The frequency of the minor A allele was significantly higher in Japanese than in Caucasians (48.9 versus 37.2%, P=0.01). In contrast to the significant association with obesity in Caucasians, the polymorphism was not associated with obesity in Japanese. The polymorphism, however, was significantly associated with hypertension in Japanese (frequency of A allele: 51.8% in hypertensives versus 46.6% in normotensives, P<0.05). No significant difference was observed in body mass index (BMI), fasting insulin level or HOMA-R between patients with different genotypes. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that the polymorphism of the UCP2 gene is associated with hypertension, and suggest the possibility of UCP2 as a target molecule for studies on the etiology and treatment of hypertension. PMID: 15106800 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]