Essential hypertension and histocompatibility antigens. An association study.

Data from a previous study concerning the distribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotypes in siblings with essential hypertension suggested that at least one of the genes responsible for the genetic susceptibility to this disease is located in or near the HLA complex. The objective of the present study was to investigate if a given HLA-A, B, or DR gene could represent a marker for susceptibility to essential hypertension at the population level. Thus, the frequencies of HLA antigens were determined in Caucasian patients with essential hypertension (HLA-A and B antigens were determined in 89 cases, 85 of which were also typed for HLA-DR antigens). The results showed an increased frequency (p = 0.00064) of HLA-DR4, which was present in 34% of the patients and in 16% of local ethnically matched control subjects. We conclude that HLA-DR4 may represent a marker for susceptibility to essential hypertension in the Brazilian Caucasian population.