P-486: High anxiety and the Trp460 mutation of the α adducin gene predict higher blood pressure

AIM: Past studies have associated anxiety to blood pressure levels, although results have been inconsistent. In this study, we examined the α-adducin gene in relationship to blood pressure and anxiety. METHODS: We examined 398 subjects, 195 males and 203 female, aged 16-79, as part of the ongoing GenNet study of the Family Blood Pressure Program. All subjects responded to the Short Form of the Manifest Anxiety Scale and were genotyped for the α-adducin gene (GG, GT, TT). Subjects were classified into GG genotype or presence of the Trp 460 mutation (TT and GT). Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were carried out on all subjects. Statistical tests used were t-tests and mixture analysis. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. All data were adjusted for age and gender. Results: The anxiety distribution, which was sharply skewed to the right, suggested that mixture analysis might detect more than one population to account for the variability observed in the anxiety scores. Results yielded two subpopulations with high (9.2 ± 0.2) and low (2.5 ± 0.2)anxiety scores. We examined these populations in relation to the genotypes of the α-adducin gene and found that those with high anxiety and the 460Trp mutation had significantly higher systolic blood pressure (p=.02) than those with low anxiety. Diastolic blood pressure was also higher at a borderline level (p=.09) in the high anxiety group. There were no positive findings for heart rate (See Table). GG 460Trp Low Anxiety High Anxiety Low Anxiety High Anxiety n=134 n=105 p n=85 n=74 p SBP, mm Hg 119 ± 1 117 ± 1 ns 116 ± 1 121 ± 1 0.02 DBP, mm Hg 77 ± 1 75 ± 1 ns 75 ± 1 78 ± 1 0.09 Heart Rate, bpm 70 ± 1 69 ± 1 ns 71 ± 1 71 ± 1 ns CONCLUSION: This report is the first to find an association between the α-adducin gene, blood pressure, and high levels of anxiety. There may be subpopulations of anxiety, which, when associated with a specific genotype, predict high blood pressure.