Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are associated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion

Newhouse, S. et al. (2009) Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are associated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion. PLoS ONE, 4(4), e5003. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005003) (PMID:19347040) (PMCID:PMC2661139)

Abstract

WNK1 - a serine/threonine kinase involved in electrolyte homeostasis and blood pressure (BP) control - is an excellent candidate gene for essential hypertension (EH). We and others have previously reported association between WNK1 and BP variation. Using tag SNPs (tSNPs) that capture 100% of common WNK1 variation in HapMap, we aimed to replicate our findings with BP and to test for association with phenotypes relating to WNK1 function in the British Genetics of Hypertension (BRIGHT) study case-control resource (1700 hypertensive cases and 1700 normotensive controls). We found multiple variants to be associated with systolic blood pressure, SBP (7/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.0005), diastolic blood pressure, DBP (7/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.002) and 24 hour urinary potassium excretion (10/28 tSNPs min-p = 0.0004). Associations with SBP and urine potassium remained significant after correction for multiple testing (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01 respectively). The major allele (A) of rs765250, located in intron 1, demonstrated the strongest evidence for association with SBP, effect size 3.14 mmHg (95%CI:1.23–4.9), DBP 1.9 mmHg (95%CI:0.7–3.2) and hypertension, odds ratio (OR: 1.3 [95%CI: 1.0–1.7]).We genotyped this variant in six independent populations (n = 14,451) and replicated the association between rs765250 and SBP in a meta-analysis (p = 7×10⁻³, combined with BRIGHT data-set p = 2×10⁻⁴, n = 17,851). The associations of WNK1 with DBP and EH were not confirmed. Haplotype analysis revealed striking associations with hypertension and BP variation (global permutation p<10⁻⁷). We identified several common haplotypes to be associated with increased BP and multiple low frequency haplotypes significantly associated with lower BP (>10 mmHg reduction) and risk for hypertension (OR<0.60). Our data indicates that multiple rare and common WNK1 variants contribute to BP variation and hypertension, and provide compelling evidence to initiate further genetic and functional studies to explore the role of WNK1 in BP regulation and EH.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dominiczak, Professor Anna and Brunner, Dr Eric and Connell, Professor John
• Authors: Newhouse, S., Farrall, M., Wallace, C., Hoti, M., Burke, B., Howard, P., Onipinla, A., Lee, K., Shaw-Hawkins, S., Dobson, R., Brown, M., Samani, N. J., Dominiczak, A. F., Connell, J. M., Lathrop, G. M., Kooner, J., Chambers, J., Elliott, P., Clarke, R., Collins, R., Laan, M., Org, E., Juhanson, P., Veldre, G., Viigimaa, M., Eyheramendy, S., Cappuccio, F. P., Ji, C., Iacone, R., Strazzullo, P., Kumari, M., Marmot, M., Brunner, E., Caulfield, M., and Munroe, P. B.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Published Online: 04 April 2009
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2009 Public Library of Science
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 4(4):e5003
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
39252	1	Regulation of aldosterone and cortisol synthesis in hypertension and cardiovascular disease	Eleanor Davies	Medical Research Council (MRC)	G0400874	Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences
39252	2	Regulation of aldosterone and cortisol synthesis in hypertension and cardiovascular disease	Eleanor Davies	Medical Research Council (MRC)	G0400874	Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences