TRANSGENICS AND ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION

Primary or 'essential' hypertension is generally perceived to be a mul tifactorial or complex genetic trait. An individual's susceptibility t o high blood pressure (BP) is influenced not only by the many genetic factors, which effect control through biochemical and physiological me chanisms, but also by environmental determinants. In a small proportio n of human hypertensives the cause is a single genetic defect, exhibit ing Mendelian characteristics. The vast heterogeneous majority, howeve r, result from a multitude of contributing factors, making identificat ion of the underlying etiology very difficult. We will briefly review a number of strategies which have helped to identify genetic factors i nvolved in hypertension. These include the search for genetic defects in Mendelian forms of hypertension, intensive study of classical anima l models such as the spontaneously hypertensive rat, and linkage analy ses in animal models and hypertensive patients. We will then discuss t he role which transgenesis can play in complementing and extending suc h analyses.