Archives of Advances in Biosciences

Abstract

      Nitric oxide is an important vasorelaxant factor that it inhibits platelet adhesion and proliferation of smooth muscle cells. NO is synthesized from L-arginine by means of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) which is an isoform of  Nitric Oxide Synthase.In the present study, we examined  possible association between the 27 base pair (bp) repeat  polymorphism in intron 4 of the  eNOS3 gene and hypertension in an Iranian  population. 40 patients with hypertension and 40 healthy controls were included in the research.Genotyping was performed by polymorphism chain reaction (PCR). The frequency of 4a4a, 4a4b , 4b4b  genotypes  were  52.6% , 26.3%,  15.7% respectively  in hypertension groups .The frequency of 4a4a, 4a4b , 4b4b  genotypes  were 73.8% , 15.7% , 10.5% respectively  in   control  groups. The hypertensive patient group showed a significant higher frequency of the 4a allele compared to the controls (p<0.01).The present study showed a singificant  association between the eNOS3 gene polymorphism and hypertension in the Iranian population .