The hemorheological profile in offspring of hypertensive individuals

Abstract

In 150 healthy offspring (70 male and 80 female) of hypertensive individuals (I-II OMS degree), the hemorheological profile was determined: Whole blood filterability (WBF), rigidity index (RI), erythrocyte aggregation (EA), blood viscosity (BV), plasma viscosity (PV), fibrinogen (Fbg), hematocrit (Ht) and leucocyte count (Leuc). The control group was made up of an equal number of healthy well matched individuals with normotensive parents. A significant increase in the Fbg level with respect to the control group was found both in male (265 ± 47 mg/dl vs 240 ± 44 mg/dl; p<0.01) and female offspring (277 ± 56 vs 260 ± 50 mg/dl; p<0.05)). In addition, only the female offspring showed a higher leuiocyte count than the gcontrol group (7.03 ± 1.8 x 10⁹/l vs 6.51 ± 0.3 x 10⁹/l; p<0.05). No other hemorheological alterations were found.

These results suggest that the offspring of people with essential hypertension (WHO I-II degree) show an increase in fibrinogen level as well as leucocyte count, which could constitute an indicator of the risk of developing arterial hypertension or its complications.