[Influence factors of salt-sensitive hypertension and responses of blood pressure and urinary sodium and potassium excretion to acute oral saline loading among essential hypertensive patients].

Objective: To explore the influence factors of salt-sensitive hypertension and to observe changes of blood pressures and urinary sodium and potassium excretion in response to acute oral saline loading among essential hypertensive patients in China.

Methods: Essential hypertensive patients from Beijing Jinzhan second community were included in this study. Salt-sensitivity was determined via the improved Sullivan's acute oral saline loading and furosemide volume-depletion tests.

The DNA methylation profile within the 5'-regulatory region of DRD2 in discordant sib pairs with schizophrenia.

Studies of discordance in monozygotic twins have demonstrated that environmental effects play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. DNA microarray analysis has revealed upregulation of the DRD2 gene in peripheral blood lymphocytes of schizophrenic patients. We hypothesized that this expression alteration could involve the DNA (CpG) methylation status that is implicated to the transcription status of the gene and in this study we used bisulfited sequence analysis to determine the DNA methylation status of a typical CpGs island within the 5'-regulatory region of DRD2 in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 48 discordant sib pairs suffering from schizophrenia.