Clinical and genetic correlates of aldosterone-to-renin ratio and relations to blood pressure in a community sample

Aldosterone:renin ratio (ARR) is used to screen for hyperaldosteronism. Data regarding correlates of ambulatory ARR in the community and its relation to hypertension incidence are limited. We defined clinical correlates of ARR, determined its heritability, tested for association and linkage, and related ARR to blood pressure (BP) progression in nonhypertensive individuals among 3326 individuals from the Framingham Heart Study (53% women; mean age: 59 years). Ambulatory morning ARR (serum aldosterone and plasma renin concentrations) were related to clinical covariates, genetic variation across the REN locus, a 10-cM linkage map, and among nonhypertensive participants (n=1773) to progression of >or=1 Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure BP category (optimal: <120/80 mm Hg, normal: 120 to 129/80 to 84 mm Hg, high normal: 130 to 139/85 to 89 mm Hg, hypertension: >or=140/90 mm Hg), or incident hypertension (systolic BP: >or=140 mm Hg, diastolic BP: >or=90 mm Hg, or use of antihypertensive treatment). ARR was positively associated with age, female sex, untreated hypertension, total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, hormone replacement therapy, and beta-blocker use, but negatively associated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and diuretic use. ARR was heritable (h(2)=0.40), had modest linkage to chromosome 11p (logarithm of the odds: 1.89), but was not associated with 17 common variants in REN (n=1729). On follow-up (mean: 3 years), 607 nonhypertensive individuals (34.2%) developed BP progression, and 283 (16.0%) developed hypertension. Higher baseline logARR was associated with increased risk of BP progression (odds ratio per SD increment: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.37) and hypertension incidence (odds ratio per SD increment: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.33). ARR is a heritable trait influenced by clinical and genetic factors. There is a continuous gradient of increasing risk of BP progression across ARR levels in nonhypertensive individuals.     

Association of genetic variation in the natriuretic peptide system with cardiovascular outcomes

Polymorphisms within individual natriuretic peptide genes have been associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but their association with clinical outcomes was previously unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association between genetic variants in key genes of the natriuretic peptide system with cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. Coronary disease patients (n = 1810) were genotyped for polymorphisms within NPPA, NPPB, NPPC, NPR1 and NPR2. Clinical history, natriuretic peptide concentrations, echocardiography, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular hospital readmissions were recorded over a median 2.8 years. Minor alleles of NPPA rs5068, rs5065 and rs198358 were associated with less history of hypertension; minor alleles of NPPA rs5068 and rs198358 was also associated with higher circulating natriuretic peptide levels (p = 0.003 to p = 0.04). Minor alleles of NPPB rs198388, rs198389, and rs632793 were associated with higher circulating BNP and NT-proBNP (p = 0.001 to p = 0.03), and reduced E/E¹ (p = 0.011), or LVESVI (p = 0.001) and LVEDVI (p = 0.004). Within NPPC, both rs11079028 and rs479651 were associated with higher NT-proBNP and CNP (p = 0.01 to p = 0.03), and rs479651 was associated with lower LVESVI (p = 0.008) and LVEDVI (p = 0.018). NPR2 rs10758325 was associated with smaller LVMI (p < 0.02). A reduced rate of cardiovascular readmission was observed for minor alleles of NPPA rs5065 (p < 0.0001), NPPB rs632793 (p < 0.0001), rs198388 (p < 0.0001), rs198389 (p < 0.0001), and NPR2 rs10758325 (p < 0.0001). There were no associations with all-cause mortality. In established cardiovascular disease, natriuretic peptide system polymorphisms were associated with natriuretic peptide levels, hypertension, echocardiographic indices and the incidence of hospital readmission for cardiovascular events.     

Development and application of a longitudinal electrocardiogram repository: the Framingham Heart Study

The electrocardiogram (ECG) has widespread use in clinical care and research. Despite its extensive use and study, important gaps remain in examining prospective, repeated longitudinal ECG measures, and their association with cardiovascular outcomes. The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is a community-based study designed to examine risk factors and outcomes associated with cardiovascular disease. Here, we describe a novel effort in the FHS to develop a unique resource: serial ECGs conducted on 3 generations of study participants spanning multiple decades (1986 to the present). We describe the FHS and the role the ECG has had in conducting cardiovascular epidemiology in the FHS. We then describe potential applications for a longitudinal ECG repository. We expect the Framingham ECG repository to enhance cardiovascular research and epidemiologic study. Such a resource will complement the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of FHS, facilitating novel investigations of cardiovascular epidemiology.     

Heritability of Risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest in ESRD

Patients on dialysis are 20 times more likely to have a cardiac arrest compared with the general population. We considered whether inherited factors associate with cardiac arrest among patients on dialysis. From a sample of 647,457 patients on chronic dialysis, we identified 5117 pairs of patients who came from the same family. These patients were each matched to a control subject from the same population. McNemar’s tests were used to compare the risk of cardiac arrest between the familial related and unrelated pairs. Genetically related family members who did not cohabitate had an odds ratio of 1.88 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.25 to 2.84) for cardiac arrest compared with their phenotypically matched unrelated controls. Genetically related family members who lived together in the same environment had an odds ratio of 1.66 (95% CI, 1.20 to 2.28). Spouses, who are genetically unrelated but live together in the same environment, had an odds ratio of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.60 to 1.59) for cardiac arrest. The risk of cardiac arrest in patients on dialysis may be attributable to inherited factors. Additional studies are needed to identify such candidate genes that modify cardiovascular risk in ESRD.