A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and international collaborators offers remarkable insight into genetic changes associated with blood pressure and hypertension.
Many conditions are associated with consistently elevated blood pressure, such as stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. While environment and lifestyle affect blood pressure, genetics plays a substantial role and can cause some people to become hypertensive in response to certain environmental stresses. Despite this link, many genes involved in blood pressure regulation are still unidentified.
The researchers analysed differences in the genomes of approximately 30,000 people of European descent to investigate genes involved in blood pressure maintenance and hypertension. They found eleven variations in DNA sequence that appear to regulate blood pressure levels.
Variations in the gene ATP2B1, which makes a protein that pumps calcium out of cells lining the interior of blood vessels, were linked to blood pressure as well as hypertension. In addition, changes in SH2B3, a protein involved in immune response, were linked to heightened blood pressure. Genes involved in cell growth and correct heart development were also identified, highlighting the many levels of precise blood pressure regulation.
None of the genes identified are part of the currently-known blood pressure regulation system and are thus not targeted by prescription drugs. Researchers aim to increase the number of genes implicated in blood pressure maintenance from twelve to fifty in the next year. Although each genetic difference is common in the population and causes only a small increase in blood pressure, researchers believe that the combination of multiple changes in different genes may compound to significantly increase blood pressure.
Aravinda Chakravarti, Ph.D., head of the Center for Complex Disease at Hopkins says, "These findings identify more pathways important for blood pressure maintenance and may lead to improvements in hypertension therapy and the formation of early detection systems."
References:
*http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505175654.htm
*Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (2009, May 10). New High Blood Pressure Genes Identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 11, 2009
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