부산대학교 도서관

INTRODUCTION: The kallikrein-kinin system plays an important role in blood pressure homeostasis and renal sodium regulation, and some studies have reported that the kinins have a protective effect against hypertension and the development of renal disease. The B2-bradykinin receptor (B2R) mediates the majority of physiological actions of bradykinin. We investigated the effect of the C→T polymorphism in exon 2 of the B2R gene in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). METHODS: This study involved 790 patients with ESRD and 510 healthy controls. All participants were genotyped for the B2R C→T polymorphism by PCR followed by digestion of a PCR product with Taq I restriction endonuclease. DNA fragments were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared between the groups. All calculations were performed using SPSS 5.0 for Windows. RESULTS: B2R genotype distribution in patients and controls was in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of the T allele was higher in ESRD patients than in controls. The significant difference was observed in the age at onset of renal disease; for patients with the T allele the mean age at onset was 36.8 years, compared with 52.4 years for those carrying only the C allele (p < 0.001). The frequencies of the T allele and carrier genotypes were not associated with gender, presence of hypertension, or underlying kidney disease. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the B2R polymorphism has a potential role in the earlier development of chronic renal failure in susceptible individuals. We did not confirm the previously published reports that the B2R gene polymorphism has a protective role in the development of ESRD.