Genome-wide linkage analysis of pulse pressure in American Indians: the Strong Heart Study.
BACKGROUND
Pulse pressure, a measure of central arterial stiffness and a predictor of cardiovascular mortality, has known genetic components.


METHODS
To localize the genetic effects of pulse pressure, we conducted a genome-wide linkage analysis of 1,892 American-Indian participants of the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS). Blood pressure was measured three times and the average of the last two measures was used for analyses. Pulse pressure, the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), was log-transformed and adjusted for the effects of age and sex within each study center. Variance component linkage analyses were performed using marker allele frequencies derived from all individuals and multipoint identity-by-descent matrices calculated in Loki.


RESULTS
We identified a quantitative-trait locus influencing pulse pressure on chromosome 7 at 37 cM (marker D7S493, LOD = 3.3) and suggestive evidence of linkage on chromosome 19 at 92 cM (marker D19S888, LOD = 1.8).


CONCLUSIONS
The signal on 7p15.3 overlaps positive findings for pulse pressure among Utah population samples, suggesting that this region may harbor gene variants for blood pressure related traits.
Franceschini
Nora
N
Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. noraf@unc.edu
MacCluer
Jean W
JW
Rose
Kathreen M
KM
Rutherford
Sue
S
Cole
Shelley A
SA
Laston
Sandy
S
Göring
Harald H H
HH
Diego
Vincent P
VP
Roman
Mary J
MJ
Lee
Elisa T
ET
Best
Lyle G
LG
Howard
Barbara V
BV
Fabsitz
Richard R
RR
North
Kari E
KE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000235:genetics*; D002888:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 19; D002897:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000208:ethnology; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000235:genetics*; D008126:Lod Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012307:Risk Factors