Simple genetic test facilitates personalized treatment for high blood pressure

BEIJING -- Chinese scientists have developed a simple, rapid-detection mechanism that can screen patients for gene variants linked to high blood pressure.

This scientific breakthrough can pave the way for more personalized treatment in the future.

Millions of patients worldwide still fail to achieve effective blood pressure control, although there are drugs that can control hypertension, a key risk factor for heart diseases.

The researchers from the Institute of Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences modified a commonly-used fluorescent detection technique to detect 10 gene variants called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with hypertension.

The test used a simple design through which two SNPs can be detected with one reaction, according to the study published recently in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The mechanism was applied retrospectively to 150 blood samples from hospitalized patients with hypertension in China, and it successfully detected several disease-linked SNPs.

The researchers then applied the technique in a week-long clinical trial involving 100 patients with hypertension and used the test results to personalize medication choices for 50 percent of the participants based on drug class-associated risks.

Compared with those who received standard hypertension therapy, the precision medicine group achieved better blood pressure control in less time, decreasing from 5.82 days to 4.06 days, according to the study.

This system could be applied to maximize the efficacy of hypertension medication and reduce rates of uncontrolled hypertension, the researchers said.