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Longitudinal age-dependent effect on systolic blood pressure
Bonnie R Joubert1, Guoqing Diao, Danyu Lin
1Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, 2101 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. bjoubert@unc.edu.
BMC Proceedings
|December 19, 2009
Summary
This study investigated age-dependent genetic influences on blood pressure using a novel method. While three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed associations, the genotype-by-age interaction effects were not statistically significant.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Cardiovascular Disease Research
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Genetic factors influence hypertension susceptibility, with age-dependent effects noted.
- Longitudinal blood pressure tracking is crucial for understanding hypertension development.
- Existing methods may not fully capture complex gene-environment interactions over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply a novel variance-component method for estimating age-dependent genetic effects on longitudinal systolic blood pressure.
- To identify specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with blood pressure changes over time.
- To evaluate the utility of a 2 degrees of freedom (df) test for detecting combined genetic and genotype-by-age interaction effects.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a cohort of 2,475 individuals from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort.
- Genotyped 57,827 Affymetrix single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosomes 17-22.
- Employed a likelihood-ratio test statistic to assess main genetic effects and genotype-by-age interactions, including a simultaneous 2-df test, with Bonferroni correction.
Main Results:
- Three SNPs demonstrated significant associations with longitudinal blood pressure under main genetic effects or combined 2-df analyses after Bonferroni correction.
- The simultaneous 2-df test did not yield genome-wide significant p-values for either main genetic effects or genotype-by-age interactions.
- The study could not establish the value of the 2-df test for screening genetic interaction effects.
Conclusions:
- The novel method identified some SNPs associated with blood pressure, but did not confirm significant age-dependent genetic interactions.
- Genome-wide significance for genotype-by-age interactions in longitudinal blood pressure was not achieved in this cohort.
- Further research is needed to refine methods for detecting age-dependent genetic effects and interactions in complex diseases like hypertension.
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