A Genome-Wide Linkage Analysis Investigating the Determinants of Blood Pressure in Whites and African Americans

Evidence for genomic regions influencing systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were assessed in a whole genome linkage analysis in 211 African American and 160 white families as part of the GenNet network of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored Family Blood Pressure Program. Multipoint regression and variance components linkage methods were used to analyze 372 polymorphic markers. Statistically compelling evidence for linkage (P values .0057 and .00023, respectively) was found on chromosome 1. Our results support the idea that BP regulation is most likely governed by multiple genetic loci, each with a relatively weak effect on BP in the population at large.