Accumulation of common polymorphisms is associated with development of hypertension: a 12-year follow-up from the Ohasama study.

Hypertension is a complex multi-factorial and polygenic disorder. Nevertheless, most studies have focused on single-gene effects. Furthermore, a majority of these studies have been cross-sectional and diagnosed hypertension using conventional blood pressure (BP) measurements, which are known to be subject to biases, including the so-called white-coat effect.

PPARgamma Pro12Ala Pro/Pro and resistin SNP-420 G/G genotypes are synergistically associated with plasma resistin in the Japanese general population.

Objective: The Ala allele of the Pro12Ala polymorphism (rs1801282) of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is protective against type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Resistin, secreted from adipocytes, causes insulin resistance in rodents. Resistin gene expression is reduced by the PPARgamma ligand.

Asymptomatic cerebral microbleeds seen in healthy subjects have a strong association with asymptomatic lacunar infarction.

Background: Cerebral microbleed (CMB), which is conspicuous on gradient-echo T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, is a risk factor of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). CMBs have been detected even in neurologically healthy persons, who also seem prone to be affected by stroke, not only ICH but also cerebral infarction.

Methods And Results: The presence of CMB was investigated in brain dock participants, making reference to silent lacunar infarction (SLI).

Identification of hypertension-susceptibility genes and pathways by a systemic multiple candidate gene approach: the millennium genome project for hypertension.

A multiple candidate-gene approach was used to investigate not only candidate genes, but also candidate pathways involved in the regulation of blood pressure. We evaluated 307 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 307 genes and performed an association study between 758 cases and 726 controls. Genes were selected from among those encoding components of signal transduction pathways, including receptors, soluble carrier proteins, binding proteins, channels, enzymes, and G-proteins, that are potentially related to blood pressure regulation.