Body mass index is a determinant of blood pressure in young adults with essential hypertensive parents. Health Care Programme of University of Tokyo.
We analysed blood pressure (BP) and various parameters related to glucose metabolism in 10,867 Japanese university students aged 19.22 +/- 0.01 years, and investigated the relationship between the subject's own BP and hypertension in close relatives. After 2 years we also examined a subset of these students enrolled in 1993. BP levels in subjects having hypertensive parents were normotensive, but significantly higher than those in subjects without hypertensive relatives or only with hypertensive grandparents. The close the genetic relationship was, the higher the subject's own BP levels. In subjects with hypertensive parents, the subject's own mean BP levels correlated significantly with the subject's own body mass indices. This correlation was much weaker in subjects without hypertensive relatives and those having only second degree relatives with hypertension. In addition, the BP levels in the offspring of hypertensive parents correlated with glutamyl-oxaloacetic transaminase. In the follow-up study in 1995, the correlation between BP levels and body mass index (BMI) was observed in this subgroup. Moreover, the subjects with hypertensive parents tended to have a higher plasma insulin level than those without hypertensive relatives. It is suggested that BP is more likely to be determined by BMI in the individuals with a genetic predisposition to hypertension.
Uehara
Y
Y
Health Service Centre, Tokyo, Japan.
Miyazaki
M
M
Kanase
H
H
Sugano
K
K
Toyo-Oka
T
T
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis