Study finds 2,000 genetic signals that influence blood pressure

An international team of researchers has identified 2,000 independent genetic signals, including 113 new regions of the human genome that appear to influence a person’s blood pressure.

The study, based on data from over 1 million individuals and published in the journal Nature Genetics, demonstrates that blood pressure is a highly complex trait influenced by thousands of different genetic variants. “We have now revealed a much larger proportion of the genetic contribution of blood pressure than was previously known,” said Helen Warren, Senior Lecturer in Statistical Genetics at Queen Mary University of London.

“We are making our polygenic risk scores data publicly available. There are many different potential applications of genetic risk scores, so it will be exciting to see how our blood pressure scores can be used to address more clinically relevant questions in the future,” she added.

For the study, the team combined four large datasets from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of blood pressure and hypertension. The additional genomic locations also explain a much larger part of the genetic differences in people’s hypertension levels, the researchers said.

The findings could lead to potential new drug targets, and help to advance precision medicine in the early detection and prevention of hypertension (high blood pressure) -- a significant global burden increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.