AIM To investigate the correlation between aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene-344C/T polymorphism and arteriosclerosis in patients with essential hypertension by using cfPWV as the evaluation index.

METHODS A total of 166 patients with essential hypertension were divided into arteriosclerosis group (52 cases) and non-arteriosclerosis group (114 cases) by Complior SP arterial pulse wave velocity detector. Exfoliated cells were collected from the oral cavity of each patient and the gene polymorphisms of CYP11B2 (-344C/T) were determined using a gene sequencing platform.

RESULTS Compared with the non atherosclerotic group, the body mass index (BMI) and total cholesterol (TC) of the atherosclerotic group were significantly increased (both P<0.05); The distribution of CYP11B2 genotypes in both groups conforms to Hardy Weinberg’s law of genetic balance, and there is no statistical difference, indicating that the samples have good population representativeness; The frequency of the C allele in the atherosclerotic group was significantly higher than that in the non atherosclerotic group; The results of binary logistic regression showed that after adjusting for relevant factors, the CYP11B2 gene-344CC genotype was an independent risk factor for arterial atherosclerosis in patients with primary hypertension (OR=3.113, 95% CI: 1.486~6.520, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION CYP11B2 (-344C/T) gene polymorphisms are associated with arteriosclerosis and the risk of arteriosclerosis in essential hypertension patients with the -344CC genotype is significantly higher than that in patients with CT or TT genotypes.