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Association of Glutathione S-transferase genes (GSTM1 and GSTT1) polymorphisms with hypertension in lead-exposed workers

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Abstract

It is proposed that lead concentrations in the blood are related to intracellular glutathione and lead might be conjugated with glutathione non-enzymatically or enzymatically via glutathione S-transferase (GST). Essential hypertension is a complex, multifactorial and polygenic disease in which the underlying genetic components remain unknown. This study was aimed to investigate GST-mu1 (GSTM1) and GST-theta1 (GSTT1) gene polymorphisms in lead-exposed workers and their relationship with blood lead levels and leadrelated hypertension. To address the possible association, GSTM1 and GSTT1 (homozygous deletion vs. non-deleted) polymorphisms in 755 lead-exposed male workers were analyzed. GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms were determined using a Multiplex PCR. We observed significant association in positive alleles of GSTT1 (OR=1.593, 95% CI=1.157–2.194). However, no significant association in GSTM1 was observed with lead-related hypertension. For combined analysis with GSTM1 and GSTT1, both positive type (+/+) and GSTT1 positive (−/+) group showed significant differences between groups. These data suggest that the GSTT1 positive type polymorphism might be associated with lead-related hypertension in the lead-exposed male workers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental & Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, 330-090, Korea

    Byung-Kook Lee, Kwang-Sung Cho & Nam Soo Kim

  2. Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, 330-090, Korea

    Soo Jeong Lee, Jae Soon Joo & Hak-Jae Kim

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  1. Byung-Kook Lee
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  2. Soo Jeong Lee
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  3. Jae Soon Joo
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  4. Kwang-Sung Cho
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  5. Nam Soo Kim
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  6. Hak-Jae Kim
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Correspondence to Hak-Jae Kim.

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Lee, BK., Lee, S.J., Joo, J.S. et al. Association of Glutathione S-transferase genes (GSTM1 and GSTT1) polymorphisms with hypertension in lead-exposed workers. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 8, 203–208 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-012-0025-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-012-0025-5

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