Analysis of linkage of the ACE locus with measures of cardiac hypertrophy in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

1. The effects of genetic factors on cardiac myocyte diameter and other phenotypes of heart size were determined in genetically hypertensive rats, Direct blood pressure, heartweight and cardiac myocyte size were measured at 12 weeks of age in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and F-2 males derived from these rats. The genotypes of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene on rat chromosome 10 were determined by amplification of DNA using the polymerase chain reaction in F-2 animals and were correlated with measures of phenotypes using ANOVA and t-test