Leptin and Nitric Oxide in Blood Pressure Regulation in Humans

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article “Leptin in Association With Common Variants of MC3R Mediates Hypertension” by Alsmadi and colleagues1 dealing with the relationship between polymorphisms of leptin gene and blood pressure levels in humans. The results of their study demonstrated that the MC3R missense variant (rs3827103) might be associated with systolic blood pressure in Kuwaiti natives. The N-terminal variant (rs3746619) was in linkage disequilibrium with the rs3827103 variant. The AA halotype of rs3746619–rs3827103 was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure. Furthermore, the authors showed that, in individuals who habor these variants, the plasma leptin levels were correlated with systolic blood pressure. The authors proposed that, because leptin might increase sympathetic nerve activity, the MC3R variants in association with leptin levels might mediate hypertension in humans.