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The prospective relationship between prehypertension, race, and whole-brain white matter microstructure

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 34, pages 82–89 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Compared with whites, blacks develop hypertension earlier in life, progress from prehypertension to hypertension at an accelerated rate, and exhibit greater hypertension-mediated organ damage (e.g., kidney disease, stroke). In this paper, we tested whether the longitudinal associations between elevated systolic blood pressure and disruption of brain white matter structural integrity differ as a function of race. A community sample of 100 middle-aged adults with prehypertension underwent diffusion imaging to quantify indirect metrics of white matter structural integrity, including fractional anisotropy. Blood pressure and diffusion imaging measurements were collected at baseline and at a 2-year follow-up. Regression analyses showed that higher systolic blood pressure at baseline was associated with a decrease in fractional anisotropy over 2 years in blacks only (β = −0.51 [95% CI = −0.85, −0.16], t = −2.93, p = 0.004, ΔR2 = 0.09). These findings suggest that blacks are more susceptible to the impact of systolic prehypertension on white matter structural integrity.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (HL101959, HL089850, and HL007560)).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Ben Allen

  2. Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Matthew F. Muldoon

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Peter J. Gianaros

  4. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Julian F. Thayer

  5. Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    J. Richard Jennings

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  1. Ben Allen
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Correspondence to Ben Allen.

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Allen, B., Muldoon, M.F., Gianaros, P.J. et al. The prospective relationship between prehypertension, race, and whole-brain white matter microstructure. J Hum Hypertens 34, 82–89 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-019-0184-0

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