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Multi-omics

Work Strand 4

Defining mechanisms: multi-omic studies in TWINS UK cohort and SABRE
Photo of Professor Tim Spector
Professor Tim Spector

Lead: Prof. Tim Spector (King’s College London)

The Twins UK cohort is a unique cohort, representative of the general UK population, originally set up in 1992 by Prof Tim Spector, to investigate the incidence of common bone and joint disorders. The cohort has grown since then and currently comprises of around 12,000 identical and non-identical twins across the UK. This cohort spans genetic research over a range of common complex traits and is probably the most genotyped and phenotyped in the world. Over 3000 twins have undergone detailed hypertension phenotyping in which both blood pressure and other phenotypes related to vascular ageing are known to predict response to treatment. In a metabolomics screen several metabolites closely associated with arterial stiffening

This multi-omics resource is being used to combine GWAS with transcriptomics in selected tissue to find QTLs associated with metabolite signatures predictive of BP response. This has enabled  Drs Cristina Menni and Ana Valdes to uncover genes whose expression correlates with the metabolites allowing to identify pathways related to BP regulation (Paper under review). The TwinsUK resource is also being used to investigate the role of a variety of compounds, such as bioactive lipids, on hypertension and to link these and other compounds to both genetic pathways and to exposures such as diet and the gut microbiome composition.

The team is exploiting the TwinsUK bioresource to uncover genes potentially mediating the response to treatment associated with individual metabolites and metabolite signatures. Pending approval, this work strand will also examine in SABRE (the largest tri-ethnic population-based cohort in the UK) the metabolite signatures in ethnic minorities with resistant hypertension.

Please see the video below to learn more about the Work Strand 4 research.

Share your comments on “your life with hypertension” and/or your experience of AIM HY INFORM Clinical Trial.

” I was diagnosed with high blood pressure more than 10 years ago. In August 2015, I had a Coronary Angioplasty surgery when three stents were inserted in one of my heart’s arteries. My symptoms improved a bit but not significantly. In August 2017, I saw an advert inviting people to participate in the AIM HY programme. I hurriedly offered myself as a guinea-pig. I have only started the first round of dual therapy and believe me, I am feeling so much better.

For the first time in many years, I ran to catch a bus without feeling short of breath. I have opted to be an ambassador of this programme because it is effective.

If you would like to leave a comment related to your treatment or the AIM HY INFORM trial experience, please click here. 

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