Comparative Study of Salt Sensitivity and Heredity in Nepal

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We found that there were very few hypertensive subjects in the inhabitants of one Nepalese hill (Kotyang) village, even though their salt consumption was as high as the citizens in many westernized countries including Japan. To evaluate the genetic factors involved in this phenomenon, we studied whether or not they had a special genotype distribution of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene L/D polymorphism, which was recently reported to be involved salt sensitivity. One hundred and thirty-eight subjects (aged in range 20 to 84 years) were evaluated at Kotyang village in Nepal. Only 9 subjects (6.5%) in this population were hypertensives (140/90 mmHg and over) while consuming 11-12g per day of salt, which also confirmed the previous results. The distribution of genotypes and alleles of ACE gene I/D polymorphism was similar to that in the Japanese and Chinese, who had five-to ten-times -more hypertensives while consuming almost as much salt as Nepalese, but signiticantly different from those in Caucasians. The present study reports, for the first time, the genotype distribution of ACE gene I/D polymorphism in Nepalese subjects. Furthermore, the results suggest ACE gene polymorphism may not be involved in the 'salt-resistance' in this population.