Blood pressure of chickens selected for leanness or obesity

Four lines of chickens selected for divergence in body weight followed by selection for obesity or leanness within each body weight line were used as a genetic model to determine the relationship of blood pressure and obesity. Forty females, 10 of each line, and 20 males, 10 from the heavy-weight obese and 10 from the light-weight obese, were used. Direct measurements of blood pressure were obtained from the left brachial artery of seven-month old birds. Systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures were recorded in this study. The systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure for the light-obese and light-lean females did not differ significantly; likewise, no difference was found for these three parameters in the heavy-obese and heavy-lean females. However, the blood pressures in the light-obese and light-lean lines were significantly higher than the heavy-obese and heavy-lean lines. Also, the blood pressures of the light-obese males were higher than those of the heavy-obese males; both male lines exceeded the females of the two respective lines.