Blood pressure and our body clocks

In the new study published online in Nature Medicine, a group of Japanese researchers reports another possible genetic connection to high blood pressure. But unlike the recent discovery of the phosducin gene that links stress and high blood pressure, this one is connected to the body’s 24 hour clock. This natural clock is known as circadian rhythm. Using a mouse model, the researchers suppressed a family of genes and proteins known as cryptochromes that are important for the regular functioning of circadian rhythms. Without the cryptochromes working properly, the mice produced high levels of the newly discovered gene, Hsd3b6. It turns out that this gene is linked to the production of aldosterone, a hormone that is part of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) that plays a major role in governing blood pressure. Aldosterone affects the uptake of both sodium and water in the kidneys, both of which influence blood pressure. As a BBC story on the discovery notes, more study is needed to see if the same effect holds in humans. However, the authors say that humans have a gene very similar to Hsd3b6.

• ‹ previous
• 23 of 29
• next ›