Development of a genetic risk score to predict the risk of hypertension in European adolescents from the HELENA study

Abstract Background Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with blood pressure (BP) levels. A combination of SNPs, forming a genetic risk score (GRS) could be considered a useful genetic tool to identify individuals at risk of developing hypertension from early stages in life. Therefore, the study aims to predict the genetic predisposition to hypertension in European adolescents from a GRS. Methods A total of 869 adolescents (53% female), aged 12.5–17.5, were included from the “Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence” (HELENA) cross-sectional study. The sample was divided into altered (≥ 130 mmHg for systolic and/or ≥ 80 mmHg for diastolic) or normal BP. Results From 1534 SNPs available, An initial screening of SNPs univariately associated with BP (p < 0.10) was established, to finally obtain a number of 16 SNPs significantly associated with BP (p < 0.05) in the multivariate model. Both unweighted GRS (uGRS) and weighted GRS (wGRS) were associated with altered BP. The area under the curve was explored using ten-fold internal cross-validation for uGRS (0.796) and wGRS (0.803). Further covariates were added to obtain a higher predictive ability. Conclusions Both GRSs, could be useful to evaluate the genetic predisposition to hypertension in European adolescents.