title: Genetic determinants of human hypertension.
abstract: Hypertension is a common trait of multifactorial determination imparting an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and end-stage renal disease. The primary determinants of hypertension, as well as the factors which determine specific morbid sequelae, remain unknown in the vast majority of subjects. Knowledge that a large fraction of the interindividual variation in this trait is genetically determined motivates the application of genetic approaches to the identification of these primary determinants. Success in this effort will afford insights into pathophysiology, permit preclinical identification of subjects with specific inherited susceptibility, and provide opportunities to tailor therapy to specific underlying abnormalities. To date, mutations in three genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of human hypertension: mutations resulting in ectopic expression of aldosterone synthase enzymatic activity cause a mendelian form of hypertension known as glucocorticoid-remediable aldosteronism; mutations in the beta subunit of the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel cause constitutive activation of this channel and the mendelian form of hypertension known as Liddle syndrome; finally, common variants at the angiotensinogen locus have been implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in Caucasian subjects, although the nature of the functional variants and their mechanism of action remain uncertain. These early findings demonstrate the feasibility and utility of the application of genetic analysis to dissection of this trait.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06536, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lifton
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000235:genetics; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000235:genetics; D015984:Causality; D019405:Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000235:genetics; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics; D013252:Steroid 11-beta-Hydroxylase / Q000235:genetics; D013577:Syndrome
chemical_list: D015222:Sodium Channels; D000804:Angiotensin II; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D019405:Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2; D013252:Steroid 11-beta-Hydroxylase