Context-Dependency of Relations Between Cardiovascular Phenotypes and Genes Involved in Sodium Homeostasis: Findings from the European Project on Genes in Hypertension

Title: Context-Dependency of Relations Between Cardiovascular Phenotypes and Genes Involved in Sodium Homeostasis: Findings from the European Project on Genes in Hypertension

Volume: 2 Issue: 4

Author(s): Stefan-Martin Brand-Herrmann, Kalina Kawecka-Jaszcz, Giuseppe Bianchi, Harry Struijker-Boudier, Jan Peleska, Yuri Nikitin, Tomasz Grodzicki, Jan Filipovsky, Edoardo Casiglia, Tatiana Kuznetsova, Speranta Babeanu, Wiktoria Wojciechowska, Valerie Tikhonoff, Lutgarde Thijs, Katarzyna Stolarz, Marcin Cwynar, Eva Brand and Jan A. Staessen

Affiliation:

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, genetics, epidemiology, gene-environment interactions

Abstract: Hypertension is a chronic age-related disorder, affecting nearly 20% of all adult Europeans. This disease entails debilitating cardiovascular complications and is the leading cause for drug prescriptions in Europeans older then 50 years. Intensive research over the past two decades failed so far to identify common genetic polymorphisms with major impact on blood pressure or associated cardiovascular phenotypes, suggesting that multiple genes each with a minor impact, along with gene-gene and gene-environment interactions play a role. The European Project on Genes in Hypertension (EPOGH) is a large-scale family-based study, in which participants from 7 different populations were phenotyped and genotyped according to standardised procedures. This review article summarizes the initial 5-year findings and puts these observations into perspective against other published studies. EPOGH demonstrated that phenotype-genotype relations strongly depend on host factors, such as gender and lifestyle, in particular salt intake as reflected by the 24-hour urinary excretion of sodium. EPOGH therefore highlights the concept that phenotype-genotype relations can only be studied within a defined ecogenetic context.

Cite this article as:

Brand-Herrmann Stefan-Martin, Kawecka-Jaszcz Kalina, Bianchi Giuseppe, Struijker-Boudier Harry, Peleska Jan, Nikitin Yuri, Grodzicki Tomasz, Filipovsky Jan, Casiglia Edoardo, Kuznetsova Tatiana, Babeanu Speranta, Wojciechowska Wiktoria, Tikhonoff Valerie, Thijs Lutgarde, Stolarz Katarzyna, Cwynar Marcin, Brand Eva and Staessen A. Jan, Context-Dependency of Relations Between Cardiovascular Phenotypes and Genes Involved in Sodium Homeostasis: Findings from the European Project on Genes in Hypertension, Current Hypertension Reviews 2006; 2 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/157340206778742557