To investigate the association between the CX 37 1019C/T polymorphism and the susceptibility to essential hypertension (EH).

A total of 1126 cases of EH were diagnosed in the People's Hospital of Wuxi City, China. A control group consisted of 874 healthy people, i.e., non-EH patients. All cases were genotyped by DNA sequencing.

Polymorphism C1019T on the Connexin37 gene was found in the whole population. The distribution of three genotype frequencies in both groups was in accordance with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of the CX37C allele was higher in EH patients (57.4% vs. 42.1%, χ²=92.5, P<0.01) compared to the control group. The frequency of C carriers (CC+TC) was 80.5% in EH patients compared to 66.7% in the control (χ²=49.0, P<0.01). EH risk was significantly increased in carriers of C the allele (CC+TC) over that in the TT homozygote (OR=2.06, 95% CI: 1.68∼2.52). Subsequent stratified analyses demonstrate that a significant difference exists in the frequency of C carriers between male EH patients and controls (79.2% vs. 69.1%, χ²=13.4, P<0.01) and in female EH patients and the control group (81.8% vs. 64.4%, χ²=38.7, P<0.01). The carriers of the C allele had higher EH risk compared with the TT homozygote without sex differences (male: OR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.28∼2.27; female: OR=2.48, 95%CI: 1.85∼3.31).

The C allele in the CX37 gene might be associated with the susceptibility to EH in population of Wuxi, China.