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Autonomic and hemodynamic origins of pre-hypertension: central role of heredity
JACC - Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 06/19/2012
Davis JT et al. – Elevated blood pressure in pre–hypertension results from increased cardiac output, driven by contractility as well as heart rate, which may reflect both diminished parasympathetic and increased sympathetic tone. In the face of increased cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance fails to decline homeostatically. Such traits display substantial heritability and shared genetic determination, although by loci not yet elucidated. These findings clarify the role of heredity in the origin of pre–hypertension and its autonomic and hemodynamic pathogenesis. The results also establish pathways that suggest new therapeutic targets for pre–hypertension, or approaches to its prevention.