RENAL-DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY AND HYPERTENSION ARE UNDER INDEPENDENT GENETIC-CONTROL IN THE FAWN-HOODED RAT

Hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia are risk factors for life-th reatening complications such as end-stage renal disease, coronary arte ry disease and stroke. Why some patients develop complications is uncl ear, but only susceptibility genes may be involved. To test this notio n, we studied crosses involving the fawn-hooded rat, an animal model o f hypertension that develops chronic renal failure. Here, we report th e localization of two genes, Rf-1 and Rf-2, responsible for about half of the genetic variation in key indices of renal impairment. In addit ion, we localize a gene, Bpfh-1, responsible for about 26% of the gene tic variation in blood pressure. Rf-1 strongly affects the risk of ren al impairment, but has no significant effect on blood pressure. Our re sults show that susceptibility to a complication of hypertension is un der at feast partially independent genetic control from susceptibility to hypertension itself.