Effects of leptin and leptin receptor SNPs on clinical- and metabolic-related traits in apparent treatment-resistant hypertension

Leptin is associated to the lack of blood pressure control as well as target organ damage in resistant hypertensive (RH) subjects. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs7799039 and rs1137101 in leptin (LEP) and leptin receptor (LEPR) genes, respectively, are associated with cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. We evaluated the association of these two SNPs with clinical and biochemical features in 109 apparent treatment-RH subjects (aTRH) and 125 controlled hypertensives. Homozygous genotypes GG (n=43) vs. AA (n=14) for rs7799039 and AA (n=34) vs. GG (n=26) genotypes for rs1137101 were compared in aTRH subjects. There was no difference in leptin levels among both SNPs. On the other hand, LEP SNP (GG vs. AA) associated with the levels of glycated haemoglobin (6.4 +/- 1.4 vs. 7.8 +/- 2.3%, p=0.03), insulin (8.6 +/- 4.6 vs. 30.6 +/- 27.7uUI/mL, p=0.01), HDL-cholesterol (51 +/- 16 vs. 39 +/- 11mg/dL, p=0.001) and PWV (9.5 +/- 2.1 vs. 11.2 +/- 2.8m/s, p=0.03). LEPR SNP (AA vs. GG), associated with heart rate (69 +/- 12 vs. 67 +/- 12bpm, p=0.03), fat mass (31 +/- 11 vs. 24 +/- 8kg, p=0.03) and triglycerides levels (175 +/- 69 vs. 135 +/- 75mg/dL, p=0.03). These findings may be clinically useful for identifying a group of aTRH who may have a LEP and/or LEPR gene variants, which may predispose this specific group to worse or better outcomes.