Orthostatic hypotension and novel blood pressure-associated gene variants: Genetics of Postural Hemodynamics (GPH) Consortium

Orthostatic hypotension (OH), an independent predictor of mortality and cardiovascular events, strongly correlates with hypertension. Recent genome-wide studies have identified new loci influencing blood pressure (BP) in populations, but their impact on OH remains unknown. A total of 38 970 men and women of European ancestry from five population-based cohorts were included, of whom 2656 (6.8) met the diagnostic criteria for OH (systolic/diastolic BP drop epsilon 20/10 mmHg within 3 min of standing). Thirty-one recently discovered BP-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined using an additive genetic model and the major allele as referent. Relations between OH, orthostatic systolic BP response, and genetic variants were assessed by inverse var The overall association between common gene variants in BP loci and OH was generally weak and the direction of effect inconsistent with resting BP findings. These results suggest that OH and resting BP share few genetic components.