The polymorphism at the microRNA-155 binding site in AGTR1 gene is not significantly associated with rheumatic heart disease in Saudi Arabia population

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major cause of cardiovascular diseases and the most devastating effects are on children and young adults. RHD is caused due to the interaction between microbial, environmental, immunologic, and genetic factors. The renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) has been strongly implicated as the susceptibility pathway in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. The present study investigated the modulating effect of Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1) 1166A>C polymorphism on the RHD and its clinical features in Saudi Arabia. AGTR1 1166A>C polymorphism was genotyped in 96 echocardiographically confirmed RHD patients and 142 ethnically matched controls by TaqMan allelic discrimination method. Genotype distribution of the AGTR1 1166A>C polymorphism was not significantly different between RHD and control groups. Further, AGTR1 1166A>C genotypes are not associated with the clinical features of RHD. These data support that there was no evidence for an association between AGTR1 1166A>C polymorphism and RHD in Saudi Arabia. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has investigated the possible association between AGTR1 1166A>C polymorphism and susceptibility to RHD and its clinical features. Even though AGTR1 gene is 1166A>C (rs5186) was reported to be associated with hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy and coronary heart disease. Present study did not find any association between AGTR1 1166A>C polymorphism and RHD in Saudi Arabia. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings