This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hong, Y. Articles by Pedersen, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hong, Y. Articles by Pedersen, N.

Hypertension, Vol 24, 663-670, Copyright © 1994 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

Genetic and environmental influences on blood pressure in elderly twins

Y Hong, U de Faire, DA Heller, GE McClearn and N Pedersen
Department of Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

We used 289 pairs of Swedish twins reared apart or together to evaluate the importance of genetic and environmental influences on blood pressure. Unlike other twin and family studies, the adoption/twin design allows a distinction between estimates of the importance of shared rearing environments and genetic effects. Genetic factors were observed to play an important role for individual differences in blood pressure. Model-fitting analyses suggested upper limits of heritability for systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the entire sample of 0.44 and 0.34, respectively. More interestingly, substantial influences of shared family effects accounting for up to 27% of the variation were also revealed. Effects of correlated environment, which might reflect, for example, the intrauterine environment, existed to some extent later in life. The influence of genetic factors tended to decrease across age groups for systolic blood pressure (0.62 in individuals less than 65 years old; 0.12 in those 65 years and older) but not for diastolic blood pressure (0.22 for the middle-aged group; 0.26 for the older group). However, this declining trend for systolic blood pressure did not reach significance (chi 2 = 8.07, df = 4, P = .09).

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. M. McCaffery, G. D. Papandonatos, M. J. Lyons, and R. Niaura Educational Attainment and the Heritability of Self-Reported Hypertension Among Male Vietnam-Era Twins Psychosom Med, September 1, 2008; 70(7): 781 - 786. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Baker, T. Rahman, D. Hall, P. J Avery, B. M Mayosi, J. M C Connell, M. Farrall, H. Watkins, and B. Keavney The C-532T polymorphism of the angiotensinogen gene is associated with pulse pressure: A possible explanation for heterogeneity in genetic association studies of AGT and hypertension Int. J. Epidemiol., December 1, 2007; 36(6): 1356 - 1362. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. J. Busst, K. J. Scurrah, J. A. Ellis, and S. B. Harrap Selective Genotyping Reveals Association Between the Epithelial Sodium Channel {gamma}-Subunit and Systolic Blood Pressure Hypertension, October 1, 2007; 50(4): 672 - 678. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. D. O'Leary, R. L. Hughson, J. K. Shoemaker, D. K. Greaves, D. E. Watenpaugh, B. R. Macias, and A. R. Hargens Heterogeneity of responses to orthostatic stress in homozygous twins J Appl Physiol, January 1, 2007; 102(1): 249 - 254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Y. King, R. Ferrara, R. Tabibiazar, J. M. Spin, M. M. Chen, A. Kuchinsky, A. Vailaya, R. Kincaid, A. Tsalenko, D. X.-F. Deng, et al. Pathway analysis of coronary atherosclerosis Physiol Genomics, September 21, 2005; 23(1): 103 - 118. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. E. Lee, B. E. K. Klein, R. Klein, and M. D. Knudtson Familial Aggregation of Retinal Vessel Caliber in the Beaver Dam Eye Study Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., November 1, 2004; 45(11): 3929 - 3933. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Hernelahti, E. Levalahti, R. L. Simonen, J. Kaprio, U. M. Kujala, A. L. T. Uusitalo-Koskinen, M. C. Battie, and T. Videman Relative roles of heredity and physical activity in adolescence and adulthood on blood pressure J Appl Physiol, September 1, 2004; 97(3): 1046 - 1052. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.B. Andresdottir, G. Sigurdsson, H. Sigvaldason, and V. Gudnason Fifteen percent of myocardial infarctions and coronary revascularizations explained by family history unrelated to conventional risk factors. The Reykjavik Cohort Study Eur. Heart J., November 1, 2002; 23(21): 1655 - 1663. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Buchwald, R. Herrell, S. Ashton, M. Belcourt, K. Schmaling, P. Sullivan, M. Neale, and J. Goldberg A Twin Study of Chronic Fatigue Psychosom Med, November 1, 2001; 63(6): 936 - 943. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. de Simone, F. Pasanisi, and F. Contaldo Link of Nonhemodynamic Factors to Hemodynamic Determinants of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Hypertension, July 1, 2001; 38(1): 13 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Pausova, F. Gossard, D. Gaudet, J. Tremblay, T. A. Kotchen, A. W. Cowley, and P. Hamet Heritability Estimates of Obesity Measures in Siblings With and Without Hypertension Hypertension, July 1, 2001; 38(1): 41 - 47. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W.-C. Hsueh, B. D. Mitchell, J. L. Schneider, M. J. Wagner, C. J. Bell, E. Nanthakumar, and A. R. Shuldiner QTL Influencing Blood Pressure Maps to the Region of PPH1 on Chromosome 2q31-34 in Old Order Amish Circulation, June 20, 2000; 101(24): 2810 - 2816. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Sharma, J. Fatibene, F. Ferraro, H. Jia, S. Monteith, C. Brown, D. Clayton, K. O'Shaughnessy, and M. J. Brown A Genome-Wide Search For Susceptibility Loci to Human Essential Hypertension Hypertension, June 1, 2000; 35(6): 1291 - 1296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Finkel, N. L. Pedersen, S. Berg, and B. Johansson Quantitative Genetic Analysis of Biobehavioral Markers of Aging in Swedish Studies of Adult Twins J Aging Health, February 1, 2000; 12(1): 47 - 68. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Snieder, C. S. Hayward, U. Perks, R. P. Kelly, P. J. Kelly, and T. D. Spector Heritability of Central Systolic Pressure Augmentation : A Twin Study Hypertension, February 1, 2000; 35(2): 574 - 579. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. O. Obisesan, C. M. Vargas, and R. F. Gillum Geographic Variation in Stroke Risk in the United States : Region, Urbanization, and Hypertension in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Stroke, January 1, 2000; 31(1): 19 - 25. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Svardh, D. Isacson, and N. L. Pedersen Self-rated health among cardiovascular drug users in a study of Swedish twins Scand J Public Health, July 1, 1998; 26(3): 223 - 231. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. I. Kiefe, O. D. Williams, D. E. Bild, C. E. Lewis, J. E. Hilner, and A. Oberman Regional Disparities in the Incidence of Elevated Blood Pressure Among Young Adults : The CARDIA Study Circulation, August 19, 1997; 96(4): 1082 - 1088. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				R. Fagard, J. Brguljan, J. Staessen, L. Thijs, C. Derom, M. Thomis, and R. Vlietinck Heritability of Conventional and Ambulatory Blood Pressures : A Study in Twins Hypertension, December 1, 1995; 26(6): 919 - 924. [Abstract] [Full Text]