title: Heritability of the blood pressure response to acute ethanol exposure in five inbred strains of mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for hypertension. There is evidence in humans that the susceptibility to alcohol-related hypertension may vary based on genotype. As a first step in investigating the genetic basis for alcohol-related hypertension, the current study was designed to assess the heritability of the blood pressure response to acute ethanol exposure by using AKR/J (AK), C57BL/6J (B6), DBA/2J (D2), Balb/cJ (Balb), and A/J (A) mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was recorded continuously for 24 hr in freely moving mice from an indwelling femoral catheter before we tested the effects of saline or ethanol (2 g/kg ip) on blood pressure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to saline, ethanol caused a pressor response that peaked within 10 min, followed by a decline in MAP. Strain A mice had a significantly greater pressor response to ethanol than other strains and did not show a decline in MAP below baseline. All other strains showed a progressive fall in blood pressure below baseline across the 60 min measurement interval. Heritability was estimated to be 0.62 for the pressor response and 0.64 for the maximal depressor response. Repeated doses of ethanol at 1 hr intervals in A and B6 mice (0, 2, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5 g/kg ip) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in MAP in A mice for the first three doses and a dose-dependent decrease in MAP in B6 mice that was independent of blood ethanol concentrations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that there is a significant genetic component to the acute blood pressure response to ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Portland Alcohol Research Center, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland 97201, USA. hattond@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Hatton
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Belknap
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics*; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A; D008806:Mice, Inbred AKR; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol