THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ACE I/D GENOTYPE, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN YOUNG CHILDREN

 MA Sarzynski, JC Eisenmann, KA Heelan, and K Glenn. Michigan State University, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Iowa State University.

 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if the ACE I/D genotype (DD, ID, II) modifies the association between physical activity (PA) and resting blood pressure (BP) in young children.

MEHTODS: 132 children (68 males, 64 females) were included in the analysis. Habitual physical activity was monitored using the MTI Actigraph accelerometer. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was determined based on the Trost cutpoint for activity counts. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) were taken according to American Heart Association recommendations. Partial correlations, controlling for chronological age, were computed to assess the associations between PA and BP in the total sample and by genotype.

RESULTS: In the total sample partial correlations between MVPA and BP were low (SBP: r = 0.03; DBP: r = -0.09; MAP: r = -0.05). When divided into groups based on ACE genotype, no significant partial correlations were found between MVPA and BP. For example the partial correlations between MVPA and SBP were 0.20 for the DD genotype, -0.17 for the ID genotype, and 0.10 for the II genotype.

CONCLUSION: The ACE genotype does not modify the association between physical activity and blood pressure in this sample of young children.

#This work was supported by the American Heart Association (# #0665500Z).