Genetics of Hypertension in African Americans and Others of African Descent
1
Section on Endocrinology and Genetics, The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, BG 31 RM 2A46, 31 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
2
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
3
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians at Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
4
Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(5), 1081; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20051081
Received: 5 January 2019 / Revised: 19 February 2019 / Accepted: 21 February 2019 / Published: 2 March 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Genomics in the Management of Hypertension)
Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease in the United States, affecting up to one-third of adults. When compared to other ethnic or racial groups in the United States, African Americans and other people of African descent show a higher incidence of hypertension and its related comorbidities; however, the genetics of hypertension in these populations has not been studied adequately. Several genes have been identified to play a role in the genetics of hypertension. They include genes regulating the renin-aldosterone-angiotensin system (RAAS), such as Sodium Channel Epithelial 1 Beta Subunit (SCNN1B), Armadillo Repeat Containing 5 (ARMC5), G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 4 (GRK4), and Calcium Voltage-Gated Channel Subunit Alpha1 D (CACNA1D). In this review, we focus on recent genetic findings available in the public domain for potential differences between African Americans and other populations. We also cover some recent and relevant discoveries in the field of low-renin hypertension from our laboratory at the National Institutes of Health. Understanding the different genetics of hypertension among various groups is essential for effective precision-guided medical therapy of high blood pressure.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
genetics; hypertension; African American; low-renin; ARMC5; SCNN1B; GRK4; CACNA1D; endocrine hypertension
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Zilbermint, M.; Hannah-Shmouni, F.; Stratakis, C.A. Genetics of Hypertension in African Americans and Others of African Descent. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20, 1081.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
