Reproducibility of Blood Pressure Linkage Results
Author Information
Author(s): Sanjay R Patel, Juan C Celedon, Scott T Weiss, Lyle J Palmer
Primary Institution: Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Hypothesis
Longitudinally collected data may provide more insight into genetic susceptibilities for disease.
Conclusion
The study found that while heritability estimates for blood pressure are stable over time, the reproducibility of linkage results is poor.
Supporting Evidence
- Heritability of systolic blood pressure was stable over time, ranging from 11.6% to 23.5%.
- The average correlation in LOD scores for hypertension was 0.46, indicating low reproducibility.
- Only one of 28 regions for SBP had a peak LOD > 1 at more than two time points.
Takeaway
This study looked at blood pressure data over time and found that while we can estimate how much genetics affects blood pressure, the results can change a lot depending on when we measure it.
Methodology
The study analyzed blood pressure data from the Framingham Heart Study at five time points using genome-wide linkage analyses.
Potential Biases
The changing composition of the population over time may have contributed to variability in linkage findings.
Limitations
The sample size decreased over time, which may have affected the power to detect linkage.
Participant Demographics
Participants were from the Framingham Heart Study, with varying ages and blood pressure measurements taken over time.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website