title: Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport and blood pressure: a genome-wide linkage study.
abstract: Increased activity of erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport is associated with essential hypertension. Sodium-lithium countertransport is highly heritable, but no single gene product mediating the exchange or explaining the association of increased sodium-lithium countertransport activity and hypertension has been identified. We performed a linkage study by using erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport as a quantitative phenotype and genome-wide markers at an average resolution of approximately 10 cM to identify quantitative trait loci explaining sodium-lithium countertransport activity. A peak LOD score of 2.83 was detected on chromosome 15q at D15S642, a marker previously shown to be linked to blood pressure. Several genes mapped to this region are possible candidates for factors affecting erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport and/or blood pressure. Further studies confirming the presence of a quantitative trait locus in this region and evaluating these candidate genes may help explain the association of elevated sodium-lithium countertransport and hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hypertension, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. aweder@umich.edu
authors.forename: Alan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Weder
authors.forename: Maria Carolina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gleiberman
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Aravinda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chakravarti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001692:Biological Transport; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000235:genetics*; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics; D017136:Ion Transport; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008094:Lithium / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium; D012964:Sodium