Expression of long noncoding RNAs MALAT1, GAS5, and TUG1 in arterial hypertension

A comparative analysis of the expression level of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in the peripheral blood leukocytes of patients with arterial hypertension (stages I-II) and conditionally healthy individuals was performed. The level of MALAT1 transcripts was significantly higher in the PBL of patients with arterial hypertension who did not take antihypertensive drugs compared to conditionally healthy individuals (p = 0.023). The content of GAS5 lncRNA in the PBL of hypertensive patients without antihypertensive therapy, on the contrary, was lower than in healthy individuals (p < 0.001). The level of TUG1 lncRNA in the PBL of individuals from the control group and the group of patients with arterial hypertension did not differ (p > 0.05). It has been shown for the first time that the use of antihypertensive drugs (metoprolol or bisoprolol) by patients with hypertension contributes to the normalization of the expression of these lncRNAs (i.e., achieving the level characteristic of conditionally healthy individuals). It was shown that the content of GAS5 lncRNA in PBL of healthy people negatively correlates with the expression of the NR3C2 gene encoding the mineralocorticoid receptor (r = -0.79; p = 0.018). A close relationship was found between the content of MALAT1 and the expression of the MTOR gene (r = 0.77; p = 0.022) and the level of NLRP3 gene transcripts (r = 0.52; p = 0.007) in the PBL of hypertensive patients. Thus, the formation of hypertension is accompanied by a change in the expression level of MALAT1 and GAS5 lncRNA in peripheral blood leukocytes. The revealed close relationship between the content of MALAT1 and GAS5 and the expression level of the NR3C2 , MTOR and NLRP3 genes, most likely, indicates their participation in the regulation of inflammation in arterial hypertension.