Associations of homocysteine status and homocysteine metabolism enzyme polymorphisms with hypertension and dyslipidemia in a Chinese hypertensive population

Background: Hypertension (HTN), dyslipidemia and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: Hypertensive Chinese subjects (n = 228) were enrolled. MTHFR C667T, MTHFR A1298C, MTR A2756G, and MTRR A66G genotypes were determined. Unconditional logistic regression was performed to determine the associations of serum Hcy status and genotypes with HTN and dyslipidemia.

Results: The mean age of hypertensive adults was 65.53 ± 9.94 years, including 88 (38.6%) men and 140 (61.4%) women. Patients with MTHFR 667TT and MTRR GG carriers showed higher serum Hcy levels (P = 0.019 and 0.018, respectively), which is associated with higher serum triacylglycerols (TAG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels (P = 0.014 and 0.044, respectively) and a higher risk for hypertriglyceridemia (OR = 1.889, 95% CI: 1.105–3.229, P = 0.020). Compared with low Hcy and MTRR 66AA, those with high Hcy and 66AA or 66AG+GG showed higher odd\s of hypertriglyceridemia (MTRR 66AA+ high Hcy: OR: 2.692, 95% CI: 1.189–6.096, Pcombined = 0.018; MTRR 66AG/GG+ high Hcy: OR: 3.433, 95% CI: 1.517–7.772, Pcombined = 0.003, respectively). Patients with high Hcy and MTHFR 667CC, as well as those with low Hcy and 667CT+TT, showed lower odds of uncontrolled SBP (MTHFR 667CC+ high Hcy: OR: 0.338, 95% CI: 0.115–0.996, Pcombined = 0.049; MTHFR 667CT/TT+ low Hcy: OR: 0.421, 95% CI: 0.193–0.921, Pcombined = 0.030) compared to patients with low Hcy and MTHFR 667CC.

Conclusions: Serum Hcy status and Hcy metabolism gene polymorphisms (MTHFR C667T and MTRR A66G) may have synergistic effects on the prevalence of HTN and dyslipidemia.