Genetic Epidemiology of Responses to Antihypertensives

Cardiovascular Diseases, Heart Diseases, Hypertension

Hypertension, Pharmacogenetics, Hydrochlorothiazide, Candesartan

To determine whether measured variation in genes coding for components of vasoconstriction and volume regulating systems predict interindividual differences in blood pressure response to therapy with a thiazide diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide, or an angiotensin II receptor blocker, candesartan, in hypertensive African-Americans (N=300 treated with each drug) and in hypertensive European Americans (N=300 treated with each drug).

BACKGROUND: Essential hypertension is a common disorder that contributes to morbidity, mortality, and cost of health care, especially among African-Americans. Although a single-drug therapy is commonly prescribed for treatment of hypertension, blood pressure levels are controlled in some individuals but not in others. The study has the potential to identify genes contributing to the etiology of interindividual differences in blood pressure response to diuretic therapy in African-Americans and European Americans. DESIGN NARRATIVE: Hypertensive adults were treated with the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, 25 mg/day, for four weeks; or with the angiotensin II receptor blocker candesartan, 16 mg/day for 2 weeks followed by 32 mg/day for 4 weeks. Interindividual variations in blood pressure responses and in candidate genes coding for components of systems regulating vasoconstriction and volume were measured. In addition, a panel of 500,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms genome-wide was measured in subsets of the most extreme responders and nonresponders to each drug for genome-wide association of analyses.

United States