Absence of linkage of the epithelial sodium channel to hypertension in black Caribbeans

• Published in: American journal of hypertension 1998-08, Vol.11 (8), p.942-945
• Main Authors: Munroe, Patricia B, Strautnieks, Sandra S, Farrall, Martin, Daniel, Harold I, Lawson, Mary, DeFreitas, Perry, Fogarty, Paul, Gardiner, R.Mark, Caulfield, Mark
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Aged; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; Biological and medical sciences; black Caribbeans; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Clinical manifestations. Epidemiology. Investigative techniques. Etiology; Epithelial sodium channel; Epithelium - metabolism; Female; Genetic Linkage; human essential hypertension; Humans; Hypertension - genetics; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Sodium Channels - genetics; Sodium, Dietary - administration & dosage; West Indies
• ISSN: 0895-7061; 1879-1905; 1941-7225
• DOI: 10.1016/S0895-7061(98)00092-2

Hypertensives of African origin have low-renin, sodium-sensitive blood pressure and respond poorly to treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. The epithelial sodium channel may be important in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in this population. This is supported by the identification of mutations within this channel, which lead to excess sodium reabsorption and hypertension in Liddle’s syndrome. In this study we tested whether there was linkage of the genes encoding the three subunits of the epithelial sodium channel to essential hypertension in 63 affected sibling pairs of West African origin from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We found no support for linkage of the epithelial sodium channel to essential hypertension in this population. However, further studies will be needed in larger populations of African ancestry to exclude a contribution of the genes encoding the epithelial sodium channel to hypertension.