Genetics of hypertension and cardiovascular disease and their interconnected pathways: lessons from large studies.
Blood pressure (BP), hypertension (HT) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are common complex phenotypes, which are affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. This article describes recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that have reported causative variants for BP/HT and CVD/heart traits and analyzes the overlapping associated gene polymorphisms. It also examines potential replication of findings from the HyperGEN data on African Americans and whites. Several genes involved in BP/HT regulation also appear to be involved in CVD. A better picture is emerging, with overlapping hot-spot regions and with interconnected pathways between BP/HT and CVD. A systemic approach to full understanding of BP/HT and CVD development and their progression to disease may lead to the identification of gene targets and pathways for the development of novel therapeutic interventions.
Division of Statistical Genomics, Washington University School of Medicine, 4444 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA. aldi@wustl.edu
Aldi T
AT
Kraja
Steven C
SC
Hunt
D C
DC
Rao
Victor G
VG
Dávila-Román
Donna K
DK
Arnett
Michael A
MA
Province
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000235:genetics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People