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The apolipoprotein ( Apo) C3 and A4 genes, which are members of the ApoA1/ C3/ A4/ A5 gene cluster, play important roles in lipid metabolism. Despite their importance, studies on the association between these polymorphisms in patients with hypertension are rare. In this study, we examined the associations of ApoC3 (−482C>T rs2854117, −455T>C rs2854116 and 3238G>C rs5128) and ApoA4 1687A>G rs5104 polymorphisms in Korean hypertensive patients. Three hundred and forty patients with hypertension and 515 healthy normotensive subjects were studied. ApoC3 and ApoA4 polymorphisms in the subjects were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The four polymorphisms were not associated with susceptibility to hypertension. However, several haplotypes constructed from four polymorphisms of the ApoC3 and ApoA4 genes were associated with susceptibility to hypertension. With respect to the clinical parameters of hypertension, the −482C>T and −455T>C polymorphisms of the ApoC3 gene were associated with abnormal body mass index ( P = 0.024) and triglyceride levels ( P = 0.033) in the hypertensive group, respectively. Based on these results, the ApoC3 and ApoA4 polymorphisms might affect synergically susceptibility to hypertension in Koreans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]