Objective. To investigate whether the polymorphisms in the angiotensin converting enzyme （ACE） gene and angiotensinogen （AGT） gene are associated with essential hypertension. Methods. A case-control study was carried out using 103 hypertensive （HT） and 131 normotensive （NT） subjects. The insertion/deletion（I / D ） polymorphism of the ACE gene and the methionine→threo- nine variant at position 235 （M235T） of the AGT gene were determined by the polymerase chain reaction （PCR） technique and PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism （PCR/RFLP） analysis

respective- ly. Results. The differences of D allele frequency and genotype distribution of the ACE gene between NT and HT groups were statistically significant （X

2

=18.12

P

<

0. 005 ）. The T235 allele frequency of the AGT gene was 69% in NT Chinese group （approximately 1. 38 to l. 64 fold that in Caucasians）

and was greater in female HT than in NT （0. 82 vs 0. 72

X

2

= 8. l

P

<

0. 025）. A correlation between M235T molecular variant of the AGT gene and I/D molecular variant of ACE gene to hypertension was found. Cbeclusions. The possession of D allele of the ACE gene might be a marker for predisposition to hyper- tension. The T235 allele of the AGT gene was more common in Chinese than in Caucasians

and might contribute to the risk for hypertension in female Chinese.