Genes
and Blood Pressure
Genes involved in controlling blood pressure change during adolescence, according to a study of more than 500 pairs of twins.
The study showed that changes in gene expression between ages 14 and 18 accounted for up to a third of the blood pressure variation that occurred by adulthood, said Dr. Harold Snieder, genetic epidemiologist. He and his colleagues found genetics explained 25 percent to 64 percent of the individual differences in blood pressure and hemodynamics. Genes also played a major role—between 60 percent and 100 percent— in the consistency they saw in the measures over the four-year period. Most surprisingly, Dr. Snieder said, was the emergence of novel genetic influences that accounted for up to a third of the total variation at age 18.
“A substantial part of the individual differences between the twins were due to new genetic effects between this period of age 14 and 18,” Dr. Snieder said. “There are new genes that are involved in blood pressure and factors underlying blood pressure. The next step is following these kids to see whether the genetic effects stabilize or, after another three or four years, there is another large jump in the new genetic effect.”