Published in

Nature Research, Nature Genetics, 10(48), p. 1171-1184, 2016

DOI: 10.1038/ng.3667

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

The genetics of blood pressure regulation and its target organs from association studies in 342,415 individuals

Journal article published in 2016 by Georg B. Ehret, Ulf de Faire, Cornelia M. van Duijn, Erik P. A. van Iperen, K. Witkowska, Kate Witkowska, Trust Case Control Consortium Wellcome, Helen Warren, Wei Zhao ORCID, Ying Wu, H. E. (Ewa) Witkowska, Hugh Watldns, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Martin D. (Martin) Tobin, Elena Tremoli and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

To dissect the genetic architecture of blood pressure and assess effects on target organ damage, we analyzed 128,272 SNPs from targeted and genome-wide arrays in 201,529 individuals of European ancestry, and genotypes from an additional 140,886 individuals were used for validation. We identified 66 blood pressure-associated loci, of which 17 were new; 15 harbored multiple distinct association signals. The 66 index SNPs were enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells, consistent with a primary role in blood pressure control through modulation of vascular tone across multiple tissues. The 66 index SNPs combined in a risk score showed comparable effects in 64,421 individuals of non-European descent. The 66-SNP blood pressure risk score was significantly associated with target organ damage in multiple tissues but with minor effects in the kidney. Our findings expand current knowledge of blood pressure-related pathways and highlight tissues beyond the classical renal system in blood pressure regulation. ; Peer-reviewed ; Post-print