[Target organs involvement in arterial hypertension. The role of heredity and environment (study of twins)]. / Porazhenie organov-mishenei pri arterial'noi gipertonii. Rol' nasledstvennosti i sredy (bliznetsovoe issledovanie).

AIM: To elucidate relationship between hereditary and environmental factors in development of target organ damage in hypertension. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The state of myocardium, central nervous system, blood vessels (including funduscopic examination) was assessed in 64 pairs of mono- and dizygous hypertensive twins (mean age 57.2+/-3.2 years) and clinical and genetic analysis of qualitative and quantitative signs was carried out. RESULTS: Hypertensive twins had similar qualitative features of target organs involvement irrespective of duration of hypertension. Concordance of signs of target organ damage in homozygous twins was more than twice higher than that of same signs in dizygous twin pairs. Left ventricular myocardial mass and intima-media thickness were mainly determined by hereditary factors. Their contribution into overall phenotypic variability of a sign exceeded 70%.

[The role of heredity and environment in formation of 24-hour blood pressure profile in patients with hypertension (a study of twins)]. / Rol' nasledstvennosti i sredy v formirovanii sutochnogo profilia arterial'nogo davleniia u bol'nykh arterial'noi gipertoniei (bliznetsovoe issledovanie).

Twenty four hour blood pressure monitoring was carried out in 64 sex concordant pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic hypertensive twins (mean age 52.7-/+3.2 years). Clinico-genetic analysis of quantitative parameters showed that during day awake time systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures were mainly determined by environmental factors while pulse pressure and heart rate were predominantly affected by genetic factors. Formation of parameters of variability of blood pressure and its biphasic rhythm were under the influence of random (intrafamily) environmental factors.