HYPOTENSIVE EFFECT ASSOCIATED WITH A PHOSPHOLIPASE C-DELTA-1 GENE MUTATION IN THE SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RAT

To identify the genes responsible for blood pressure in the spontaneously hypertensive rat strain, we performed a cosegregation analysis between the genotype and blood pressure in a set of male F2 rats obtained by crossmating SHR with Wistar-Kyoto rats, a parental normotensive strain. Our investigation revealed that the phospholipase C-δ1 polymorphism, which resulted in missense mutation, cosegregates with the lower blood pressure in SHR, and that PLC-δ1 gene is located on chromosome 8. On the other hand, we found the lack of cosegregation between blood pressure and the nerve growth factor receptor gene, which is linked to a hypertensinogenic gene locus (denoted as BP SP-1) on chromosome 10. We propose that PLC-δ1 gene itself or closely linked gene on chromosome 8 is a new candidate with the hypotensive effect, and that BP-SP1 locus does not directly contribute to blood pressure elevation in original SHR. © 1992.