Salt sensitivity is defined as a change in blood pressure in response
to changes in salt and water homeostasis. Found in 73% of hypertensive
and 36% of normotensive blacks, it is generally considered a hallmark
of hypertension in blacks. The higher prevalence of salt sensitivity
in blacks compared with whites suggests a genetic influence on this tr
ait, but there is little direct evidence of heritability. We determine
d the extent to which salt sensitivity is correlated in black families
and estimated the heritability of this phenotype. Black families were
recruited through a hypertensive proband. Both hypertensive and normo
tensive adults were phenotyped with respect to salt sensitivity with a
n intravenous sodium-loading, furosemide volume-depletion protocol. Sa
lt sensitivity was defined as the difference between sodium-loaded and
volume-depleted blood pressure. We enrolled 20 families, comprising 3
0 parent-offspring pairs and 115 adult sibling pairs, Age-adjusted fam
ilial correlations ranged from .33 to .44, .19 to .37, and .12 to .21
for mean arterial and systolic and diastolic pressure responses to the
salt sensitivity maneuver, respectively. Corresponding heritability e
stimates were 0.26 to 0.84, 0.26 to 0.74, and 0.004 to 0.24, respectiv
ely. These data strongly suggest a heritable component of salt sensiti
vity.