Mendelian Inheritance of propranolol responsive hypertension in an Extended Ghanaian family
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Date
1990-09
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Ghana Medical Journal
Abstract
Two clear groups, namely hypertensives and 1I0mlOlellsives
were identified when several members of 3
generations of an extended Ghanaian family were
investigated clinically and historically. Two sets
and large numbers of offspring from polygamous
marriages ill the family facilitated Mendelian genetic
analysis. The first marriage of the female hypertensive
prepositus to a normotensive produced two
Sons; one was hypertensive the other II0t. Her second
marriage to a hypertensive produced six offspring
all hypertensive. The hypertensive Son from
the prepositus’s first marriage married two normotensive
women; the first had six normotensives while
the second had one hypertensive and two normotensives;
offspring. Two of the female offspring of the
prepositus’s second marriage married normotensive
men and had several offspring half of whom were
hypertensive. 17lis pedigree pattern could be explained
011 Mendelian genetic theory by postulating a
pair of alleles, name (H) and (N) genes. On this
hypothesis the genotype of hypertension is HH,
while that of normotension is NH or NN. This
makes H a recessive gene. The marriage between
hypertensives (HH) and heterozygous carriers (NH)
resulted in hypertensive offspring, giving the false
impression that the hypertensive gene was dominant
At 30 years of age. hypertensive genotypes developed measurable high blood pressure which was
consistently reducible with the B-blocker anti-renin
propranolol. An abnormality in the renin-angiotensin
system was postulated as tire probable biochemical
basis of this inherited Hypertension
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