Gene polymorphism of vascular endothelial growth factor -1154 G>A is associated with hypertensive nephropathy in a Hispanic population

Review on Molecular Mechanism of Hypertensive Nephropathy

Hypertension, a prevalent chronic ailment, has the potential to impair kidney function, and thereby resulting in hypertensive nephropathy. The escalating incidence of hypertensive nephropathy attributed to the aging population in urban areas, has emerged as a prominent cause of end-stage renal disease. Nevertheless, the intricate pathogenesis of hypertensive nephropathy poses considerable obstacles in terms of precise clinical diagnosis and treatment. This paper aims to consolidate the research findings on the pathogenesis of hypertensive nephropathy by focusing on the perspective of molecular biology.

The GG genotype of the -152 G/A vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphism predisposes to hypertension-related chronic kidney disease

Our purpose was to determine whether the VEGF -152 G/A polymorphism could be associated with chronic kidney disease and endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive patients. There were 100 healthy volunteers enrolled into the control group. The group of patients was constituted by 99 consecutively admitted hypertensive patients referred to our Institution by their general practitioner. All patients were treated with anti-hypertensive polytherapy. Presented study revealed that the hypertensive patients bearing the GG genotype were characterized by the highest values of diastolic blood pressure and markers of endothelial damage such as Angiogenin, Endostatin, CRP as well as von Willebrandt factor. In addition, higher number of immature endothelial progenitor cells with CD34(+)CD133(+), CD34(+)CD133(-) markers was observed in GG hypertensive carriers while in normotensive individuals no differences were found. Such phenomenon may indicate an increased mobilization of bone-marrow derived endothelial progenitors. It may testify to the preserved compensatory mechanism in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients until the G3a stage of the disease. Moreover, patients with higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) level had lower of vWf and Endostatin values, and higher level of VEGF. Taken together our findings clearly indicate the -152 GG hypertensive carriers as more prone to develop CKD. We can suspect that the VEGF -152 GG genotype is strongly associated with hypertension-dependent CKD.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in Punjabi population from North West India

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of seven VEGF promoter polymorphisms with breast cancer risk in Punjabi population from North West India. We screened DNA samples of 102 sporadic breast cancer patients and 102 unrelated healthy, gender, and age-matched individuals for seven VEGF promoter polymorphisms [-417 C/T (rs833062), -172 C/A (rs59260042), -165 C/T (rs79469752), -160 C/T, -152 G/A (rs13207351), -141 A/C (rs28357093) and -116 G/A (rs1570360)] by direct sequencing. The frequency of GG, GA, and AA genotype of -152 G/A polymorphism was 26.47 vs 38.34%, 46.08 vs 51.96%, and 27.45 vs 9.80%, in patients and controls, respectively. VEGF -152 AA genotype was significantly associated with increased risk for breast cancer (OR = 4.04, 95%CI, 1.69-9.68, p = 0.001; recessive model OR = 3.48, 95%CI, 1.59-7.63, p = 0.001). For VEGF -116 G/A polymorphism, G and A allele frequencies were 65.2 vs 76.47% and 34.8 vs 23.53% in patients and controls, respectively. Individuals having -116 AA genotype (OR = 3.40; 95%CI, 1.24-9.37; p = 0.014) and A allele (OR = 1.73; 95%CI, 1.12-2.67; p = 0.012) were associated with increased risk for breast cancer. VEGF -165 C/T and -141 A/C polymorphisms were associated with reduced risk for breast cancer. There was significantly decreased frequency of CT genotype (4.90 vs 18.63%; p = 0.002) and T allele (2.45 vs 9.31%; p = 0.003) of -165 C/T polymorphism among breast cancer patients as compared to controls. VEGF -141 A and C allele frequency were 96.57 vs 91.18% and 3.43 vs 8.82% in patients and controls, respectively. Significant reduced risk for breast cancer was observed with AC genotype (OR = 0.34, 95%CI, 0.14-0.86; p = 0.019) and C allele (OR = 0.37; 95%CI, 0.15-0.89; p = 0.023) of -141 A/C polymorphism. We did not observe association of VEGF -417 T/C, -172 C/A, -160 C/T polymorphisms with breast cancer risk in the studied subjects (p > 0.05). The VEGF -152 G/A and -116 G/A polymorphisms were found to be significantly associated with increased risk for breast cancer while -165 C/T and -141 A/C polymorphisms were found to be associated with decreased risk for breast cancer in Punjabi population from North West India.

Polymorphisms in the genes related to angiogenesis are associated with uterine cervical cancer

INTRODUCTION

The expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) participates in the angiogenesis of several cancer types. The goal of this study was to investigate polymorphisms in genes related to angiogenesis (PAI-1-675 4G/5G, VEGF C936T, and TGF-β1 G-800A) to evaluate the risk for developing uterine cervical cancer (UCC).

METHODS

In a case-control study, 100 healthy subjects and 100 patients with UCC from Mexico were included. We determined the genetic profile of the polymorphic markers, which were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction using a sequence-specific primer.

RESULTS

There was no statistical difference in the allele distribution from the intergroup comparisons of PAI-1 675 4G/5G and VEGF C936T data; however, a significant difference was observed within TGF-β1 G-800A. The linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed that PAI-1 -675 4G and TGF-β1 -800A pair-haplotype was in strong linkage disequilibrium with a significantly increased risk (odds ratio, 3.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.66-7.25) to UCC.

CONCLUSIONS

The polymorphisms in the genes related to angiogenesis -675 4G/5G PAI-1 and G-800A TGF-β1, segregated solely or combined, might contribute to the increased susceptibility to UCC in a Mexican population.

VEGFA rSNPs, transcriptional factor binding sites and human disease

Three regulatory SNPs (rSNPs) in the promoter region of the vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA) gene have been significantly associated with several human diseases or conditions. The rSNP alleles alter the DNA landscape for potential transcriptional factors to attach, resulting in changes in transcriptional factor binding sites (TFBS). These TFBS changes are examined with respect to the human diseases which have been found to be significantly associated with the rSNPs.

The role of vascular endothelial growth factor +405 G/C polymorphism and albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Observations on the association between the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphism and nephropathy have been inconsistent, which might be due to ethnic and geographical variations. Furthermore, the relationship between +405 G/C polymorphism and albuminuria in the diabetic population has not been sufficiently studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the possible association between +405 G/C polymorphism and albuminuria in an population from Tehran of Iran. A total of 255 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria (Group A) and 235 patients with type 2 diabetes and normoalbuminuria (Group B) were included. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were used to detect the VEGF alleles. In univariate analysis, the groups were statistically similar in all variables except for HbA1c (8.53 ± 1.7 in Group A vs. 8.2 ± 1.73 in Group B; P = 0.034), 24-h urinary albumin (201.33 ± 84.8 in Group A vs. 22.88 ± 3.5 in Group B; P < 0.001), and the frequency of GG genotype (31% in Group A vs. 18.7% in Group B; P = 0.006). The GG genotype was the independent predictor of albuminuria [P = 0.014, OR = 1.771, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.124-2.790]. Our study showed that the G allele was not associated with albuminuria, but the GG genotype in the VEGF gene is independently associated with development of nephropathy in the our diabetic population.