Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Apr 26.
Published in final edited form as: J Hypertens. 2008 Apr;26(4):729–736. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e3282f524b4

Table 4.

Genetic (ρG) and environmental (ρE) correlation between baseline blood pressure and blood pressure response phenotypes to the Cold Pressor Test

Pairs of traits ρG (Standard Error) P value
ρE (Standard Error) P value
H0: ρG = 0 H0: ρG = 1 (or −1) H0: ρE = 0
Systolic blood pressure
 Baseline - Reactivity iAUC* 0.43 (0.35) 0.18 0.087 −0.26 (0.07) 0.0002
 Baseline - Recovery iAUC* 0.86 (0.45) 0.013 0.39 −0.38 (0.06) < 0.0001
 Reactivity iAUC - Recovery iAUC** 0.81 (0.14) 0.024 0.041 0.72 (0.03) < 0.0001
Diastolic blood pressure
 Baseline - Reactivity iAUC* −0.18 (0.23) 0.45 0.0007 −0.13 (0.07) 0.084
 Baseline - Recovery iAUC* −0.13 (0.26) 0.62 0.0007 −0.25 (0.07) 0.0004
 Reactivity iAUC - Recovery iAUC** 0.74 (0.12) 0.002 0.003 0.66 (0.04) < 0.0001

iAUC = incremental Area Under the Curve

*

Adjusted for age, age2, sex, age-by-sex interactions, body mass index, and resting heart rate.

**

Adjusted for age, age2, sex, age-by-sex interactions, body mass index, resting heart rate, and baseline blood pressure.

Note – The genetic and environmental correlation between a pair of traits (expressed as ρG and ρE, respectively) captures the extent to which the same genes and the same environmental factors influence both traits. Rejection of the hypothesis that ρG = 0 suggests that one or more of the same genetic factors influences both traits. Rejection of the hypothesis that ρG =1 (or −1) suggests that one or more unique genetic factors influences one trait but not the other (i.e., all of the genetic factors that influence one trait are not the same as all of the genetic factors that influence the other trait). Rejection of the hypothesis that ρE = 0 indicates that one or more of the same environmental factors influences both traits.