The serum angiotensinogen concentration and variants of the angiotensinogen gene in white and black children.

The T235 allele of the angiotensinogen gene (AGT) has been associated with hypertension. Blood pressure increases faster over time in black children than in white children, and in adults hypertension is more prevalent in blacks. We sought evidence for a role for angiotensinogen to contribute to racial differences in blood pressure in a study of 148 white and 62 black normotensive children (mean age, 14.8 yr). The frequency of the T235 allele was 0.81 in blacks and 0.42 in whites (chi 2 = 77.3, P = 0.0001). The mean angiotensinogen level was 19% higher in blacks than in whites (P = 0.0001 for males, P = 0.004 for females). Genotype was positively related to serum angiotensinogen in white children (P = 0.0001 for males, P = 0.004 for females), but a similar relationship was absent in blacks where the frequency of M235 may have been too low to discern an association. Longitudinal blood pressure (measured twice yearly) adjusted for body mass index showed a marginally significant relationship to the angiotensinogen level (P = 0.07). An independent relationship of serum angiotensinogen with body mass index (P = 0.0001) and race (P = 0.0003) was also observed. In summary, T235 was more frequent, and the level of angiotensinogen was higher in blacks than in whites. Such a racial difference in the renin-angiotensin system may contribute to the disparity in blood pressure levels of white and black young people.