RYR3 gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular disease outcomes in the context of antihypertensive treatment

Nearly one-third of adults in the U.S. have hypertension, which is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. The goal of antihypertensive pharmacogenetic research is to enhance understanding of drug response based on the interaction of individual genetic architecture and antihypertensive therapy to improve blood pressure control and ultimately prevent CVD outcomes. In the context of the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatment (GenHAT) study and using a case-only design, we examined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms in RYR3 interact with four classes of antihypertensive drugs, particularly the calcium channel blocker amlodipine versus other classes, to modify the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD; fatal CHD and non-fatal myocardial infarction combined) and heart failure in high-risk hypertensive individuals. RYR3 mediates the mobilization of stored Ca(+2) in cardiac and skeletal muscle to initiate muscle contraction. There was suggestive evidence of pharmacogenetic effects on heart failure, the strongest of which was for rs877087, with the smallest p-value =.0005 for the codominant model when comparing amlodipine versus all other treatments. There were no pharmacogenetic effects observed for CHD. The findings reported here for the case-only analysis of the antihypertensive pharmacogenetic effect of RYR3 among 3,058 CHD cases and 1,940 heart failure cases show that a hypertensive patient’s genetic profile may help predict which medication(s) might better lower cardiovascular disease risk.