Genome-wide association study of white-coat effect in hypertensive patients

AbstractBackground: White-coat effect (WCE) confounds diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. The prevalence of white-coat hypertension is higher in Europe and Asia compared to other continents suggesting that genetic factors could play a role.Methods: To study genetic variation affecting WCE, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study involving 1343 Finnish subjects. For the discovery stage, we used Genetics of Drug Responsiveness in Essential Hypertension (GENRES) cohort (n = 206), providing the mean WCE values from up to four separate office/ambulatory recordings conducted on placebo. Associations with p values <1 × 10−5 were included in the replication step in three independent cohorts: Haemodynamics in Primary and Secondary Hypertension (DYNAMIC) (n = 182), Finn-Home study (n = 773) and Dietary, Lifestyle and Genetic Determinants of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (DILGOM) (n = 182).Results: No single nucleotide polymorphisms reached genome-wide significance for association with either sy...