Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2012

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Epidemiology and Population Health

Committee Chair

Taylor, Kira C.

Author's Keywords

Blood pressure dipping; African-American

Subject

Hypertension--Genetic aspects; Coronary heart disease--Genetic aspects; African Americans--Health and hygiene

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, are the leading causes of death in the United States. African-Americans carry the highest burden of disease with 32% of adults with hypertension. Blood pressure (BP) dipping, defined as a drop of> 10% in blood pressure from daytime to nighttime, occurs less often in African-Americans and is a risk factor for CVD. BP dipping has a significant genetic component. This study focuses on the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system that may influence BP dipping in this population. A total of 928 participants (266 dippers and 664 non-dippers) from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) were analyzed. The study found that 37 common SNPs across three genes (ACE, AGT, and AGTR1) were not significantly associated with BP dipping in this population. Therefore, there are likely additional genes and possibly other SNPs within these genes that are responsible for the genetic contribution to BP dipping.

Download

Share

COinS