Association of a combination of antioxidant enzyme gene polymorphisms with arterial hypertension

Polymorphisms in the genes encoding the first-line antioxidant defense enzymes (SOD2, CAT, GPX4) may reduce their activity and lead to the accumulation of free radicals, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases when exposed to xenobiotics. In this regard, it is necessary to study informative molecular genetic markers related to antioxidant protection.

The study aims to find an association of a combination of functional polymorphisms rs4880 (SOD2), rs1001179 and rs7943316 (CAT), rs713041 (GPX4) with diseases characterized by high blood pressure in converter shop workers.

The sample included 151 employees of the converter shop (the main group) and 203 employees of administrative and management departments (the comparison group). The authors have collected information on diseases I10–I15 (ICD-10), as well as whole blood sampling. The researchers have used commercial kits and an Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 3 amplifier for genotyping. The dominant genetic model of inheritance and alleles were used to determine the odds ratio.

The analysis of gene polymorphism combinations revealed that carriage of at least one of the polymorphic alleles (p=0.034) and genotypes (p=0.036) of SOD2 (rs4880) and CAT (rs1001179) significantly increased the risk of hypertensive diseases in the converter shop workers, but not in the controls.

Identification of polymorphisms of genes of the first line of antioxidant protection can increase the effectiveness of identifying risk groups for the occurrence and development of diseases characterized by high blood pressure among workers of the converter shop.

Limitations. The study did not take into account the influence of electromagnetic radiation from office equipment, as well as the lifestyle of patients.

Ethics. The ethical approval of the study was received from the local Ethics Committee of the Federal Budgetary Institution of Science "Yekaterinburg Medical Scientific Center for Prevention and Health Protection of Industrial Workers" of Rospotrebnadzor (Protocol No. 1 dated 02/26/2021). The work was carried out in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association (2013 edition).

Contributions:
Bereza I.A. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing;
Kikot A.M. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing;
Shaikhova D.R. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing;
Sutunkova M.P. — research concept and design, editing;
Polianina D.D. — data collection and processing, editing;
Bokovoy V.D. — data collection and processing, editing;
All co-authors— approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all parts of the article.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 13.05.2026 / Accepted: 21.05.2026 / Published: 27.06.2026

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