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Heritability of blood pressure increases during mental stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

DI Boomsma ,
H Snieder ,
EJC de Geus  and
LJP van Doornen
DI Boomsma*
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]
H Snieder
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
EJC de Geus
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
LJP van Doornen
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
*
*Correspondence: Dorret I Boomsma, Department of Physiological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1111, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: 31 20 444 8789/8786; Fax: 31 20 444 8832

Abstract

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We studied the influence of mental stress on the contributions of genes and environment to individual variation in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure by structural equation modelling in 320 adolescent male and female twins. Blood pressure data were collected during rest and during a reaction time and a mental arithmetic task. Univariate analyses of SBP and DBP showed familial aggregation for blood pressure. A genetic explanation for this resemblance was most likely, although during rest conditions a model that attributed familial resemblance to shared environmental factors, also fitted the data. There was no evidence for sex differences in heritabilities. Multivariate analyses showed significant heterogeneity between sexes for the intercorrelations of the blood pressure data measured under different rest and task conditions. Multivariate genetic analyses were therefore carried out separately in males and females. For SBP and DBP in females and for SBP in males an increase in heritabilities was seen for blood pressure measured during stress, as compared to rest measurements. The influence of shared environ-mental factors decreased during stress. For DBP in males no significant contributions of shared environment were found. The multivariate analyses indicated that the same genetic and environmental influences are expressed during rest and stress conditions.

Keywords

geneticsmultivariatemodel fittinghypertension
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , 01 February 1998 , pp. 15 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998