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Heritability and Stability of Resting Blood Pressure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Jouke-Jan Hottenga ,
Dorret I. Boomsma ,
Nina Kupper ,
Danielle Posthuma ,
Harold Snieder ,
Gonneke Willemsen  and
Eco J. C. de Geus
Jouke-Jan Hottenga*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. [email protected]
Dorret I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Nina Kupper
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Danielle Posthuma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Harold Snieder
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Georgia Prevention Institute, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, United States of America.
Gonneke Willemsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Eco J. C. de Geus
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
*
*Address for correspondence: Jouke-Jan Hottenga, MSc, Department of Biological Psychology, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

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We examined the contribution of genetic and environmental influences to variation in resting systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure in participants from 4 twin studies carried out between 1986 and 2003. A total of 1577 subjects (682 males, 895 females) participated. There were 580 monozygotic twins, 664 dizygotic twins and 333 of their siblings. The 4 studies sampled subjects in different age groups (average age 17, 32, 37, 44 years), allowing for comparison of the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors across the first part of the life span. Blood pressure was assessed under laboratory conditions in 3 studies and by ambulatory monitoring in 1 study. Univariate analyses of SBP and DBP showed significant heritability of blood pressure in all studies (SBP h2 48% to 60%, DBP h2 34% to 67%). Overall, there was little evidence for sex differences in blood pressure heritability, and no evidence for differences in heritability due to measurement strategy (laboratory vs. ambulatory). For 431 subjects there were data from 2 or more occasions that allowed us to assess the tracking of blood pressure over time and to estimate the genetic and environmental contributions to blood pressure tracking. Correlations over time across an average period of 7.1 years (tracking) were between .41 and .70. Multivariate genetic analyses showed that blood pressure tracking was entirely explained by the same genetic factors being expressed across time. It was concluded that whole genome scans for resting blood pressure can safely pool data from males and females, laboratory and ambulatory recordings, and different age cohorts.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 8 , Issue 5 , 01 October 2005 , pp. 499 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005