[Hypertension genetics: what have we learned so far?].
Hypertension is a common, modifiable and heritable cardiovascular risk factor. Some rare monogenic forms of hypertension have been described, but the majority of patients suffer from "essential" hypertension, for whom the underlying pathophysiological mechanism is not clear. Essential hypertension is a complex trait, involving multiple genes and environmental factors. Recently, progress in the identification of common genetic variants associated with blood pressure and hypertension has been made thanks to large-scale international collaborative projects involving geneticists, epidemiologists, statisticians and clinicians. In this article, we review some basic genetic concepts and the main research methods used to study the genetics of hypertension, as well as selected recent findings in this field.
Pruijm
M
M
Service de néphrologie et consultation d'hypertension, Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive, Division de néphrologie, CHUV, 1011 Lausanne.
Bochud
M
M
Burnier
M
M
D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant / Q000235:genetics; D005808:Genes, Recessive / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
D004247:DNA