Researchers have discovered 179 kidney genes that may be responsible for high blood pressure, potentially leading to new strategies for treating the condition.
Known as the silent killer, high blood pressure is one of the most common diseases and remains the key risk factor for strokes and heart attacks.
The condition – also known as hypertension – runs in families, but the exact mechanisms through which genes influence a person’s predisposition to hypertension is not clear.
The findings published in Nature Genetics shed new light on the understanding of this.
Researchers, led by Professor Maciej Tomaszewski at the University of Manchester, characterised how information inherited in DNA translates into genetic predisposition to high blood pressure through changes in activity of certain kidney genes.