Background

A human syndecan-4 genetic variant (rs1981429) has previously been associated with lean tissue mass and intra-abdominal fat, and SNP rs4599 with resting energy expenditure in healthy early pubertal children. These variations could thus cause overweight and hypothetically lead to hypertension. Their association with body mass index and blood pressure was therefore studied in a Finnish cohort of adults. Methods

The data was collected from the Tampere adult population cardiovascular risk study (TAMRISK). A total of 279 cases with hypertension and/or coronary artery disease (CAD), and 488 non-hypertensive healthy controls were selected from a Finnish periodic health examination 50-year-old cohort. Information was available also from their 45-year examination. DNA was extracted from buccal swabs and human syndecan-4 gene SNPs were analyzed using KASP genotyping. Results

The SNP rs1981429 variant TT was significantly associated with hypertension, as compared to variants TG and GG at the age of 50 years (p=0.015). The variant TT was also associated with increased BMI at the ages of 45 and 50 years (p=0.008 and p=0.026, respectively). In addition, TT genotype associated with increased CAD prevalence (P=0.013). No significant associations between rs4599 variants and hypertension or BMI were found. In haplotype analysis the number of alleles T (rs1981429)/C (rs4599) was linearly associated with CAD prevalence; the highest prevalence (13%) was in haplotype TT/CC and lowest prevalence (1%) in haplotype GG/TT (p=0.01). Conclusion

Syndecan-4 polymorphisms were associated with essential hypertension, BMI, and CAD prevalence in the TAMRISK study.