SAPPHIRe - Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects 50 million Americans and is the single greatest risk factor for diseases of the brain, heart, and kidneys. Studies have consistently shown that our genes have a significant affect on blood pressure levels.

The SAPPHIRe project (consisting of an East Asian study population) is part of the multi-ethnic Family Blood Pressure Program (FBPP). The goal of SAPPHIRe and the FBPP program is to locate and characterize the genes that contribute to high blood pressure with the aim of improving prevention and treatment.

This is being accomplished by looking for a relationship between severity of disease phenotypes and polymorphisms in genes between and among relatives. To date, the Family Blood Pressure Program had enrolled over 12,000 of the planned 18,000 study participants. Genotyping projects on these individuals, and statistical analysis of these results, are on-going.