Key result
High BP polygenic risk score linked to ~128% greater CVD mortality despite non-elevated baseline BP.
Why the study?
Whether blood pressure and blood pressure polygenic risk score are jointly associated with cardiovascular disease was less explored, especially among non-European populations.
Does a high polygenic risk score for blood pressure identify increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in Japanese adults with non-elevated measured blood pressure?
Does a high polygenic risk score for blood pressure identify increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in Japanese adults with non-elevated measured blood pressure?
A high polygenic risk score for blood pressure identifies individuals at significantly increased risk for cardiovascular mortality even when their measured blood pressure is not elevated.
High BP PRS may flag excess CVD mortality despite normal readings in Japanese adults; extends prior PRS associations but remains hypothesis-generating.
Although previous studies reported that BP PRS is associated with CVD, it is less explored whether BP PRS and BP are jointly associated with CVD, especially among non-European populations. Therefore, we examined joint associations of BP control and BP polygenic risk score (PRS) with CVD mortality in a Japanese population. Data were obtained from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) Study, the multi-centered cohort study with 14 study areas throughout Japan. Of which, we analyzed ~35,000 Japanese individuals (Mean age: 55 years old, Men: 44%) with measured BP data (11,242 and 23,904 participants in subgroup #1 and #2). We developed PRS for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in each subgroup. Participants were followed up from the baseline survey (2005-2014) to the end of 2020. Not elevated BP was defined as SBP ≤ 140 mmHg or DBP ≤ 90 mmHg regardless of antihypertensive medications. During the follow-up period, a total of 381 CVD deaths were observed. Compared with not elevated BP, HRs (95% CI) of CVD mortality were 1.98 (1.37-2.88) for elevated SBP and 2.41 (1.66-3.49) for elevated DBP. Compared to not elevated BP in the lowest PRS tertile, HRs (95% CI) of CVD mortality in the highest PRS tertile were 2.28 (1.17-4.43) for SBP and 3.08 (1.61-5.91) for DBP even though BP was not elevated. These associations in the subgroup #1 were replicated in the subgroup #2. Our findings highlighted the importance of BP PRS to detect a hidden CVD risk strata in addition to laboratory BP measurements.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Okumiyama et al. (2025) studied this question. In Japanese individuals with not elevated blood pressure, the highest tertile of BP polygenic risk score was associated with CVD mortality HRs of 2.28 for SBP and 3.08 for DBP.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: