The Relationship Of WNK1Gene Variants With Sodium And Potassium Intake On Blood Pressure

Objective This study investigated the relationship between the WNK1gene variants andblood pressure levels, analyzed the interactions between the common WNK1variants and dietarypotassium and sodium intake for determining inter-individual variations in blood pressure. Tounderstand the interaction of environmental factors and genetic factors impact on blood pressure.Methods Select the818healthy people randomly selected in the routine examinationof the medical institutions. Measure their resting blood pressure, inquiry and record theirclinical characteristics and indicators, extract peripheral blood5ml. Genomic DNA wasisolated from peripheral blood leukocytes using the DNA Trizol kits. We have determined thegenotypes of five SNPs of the WNK1gene by PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphismanalysis and then genotyping. The relationships between blood pressure levels and each genotypeor haplotype of the WNK1gene were analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis.Results We found that there is no relationship between WNK1gene polymorphisms andblood pressure levels in the analysis of selected populations. But when analyzed the male subjects,the rs880054(A>G polymorphism in intron10), rs956868(Pro1056Thr polymorphism in exon13)and rs12828016(Met1808Ile polymorphism in exon21) were found that be associated withincreased blood pressure. Separate analysis of the female subjects did not get similar results.Haplotype3is associated with increased blood pressure levels, whereas haplotype2is associatedwith decreased blood pressure levels.Conclusions The genetic differences in the WNK1gene influence the variations in bloodpressure response to dietary sodium and potassium intake. Variations in the WNK1gene may alsohave an important role not only in determining blood pressure levels but also in determining theblood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium intake.