We are currently combining different types of genetic and biological data derived from patients with hypertension to better understand the disease and identify potential drug targets against the disease. This will be achieved using bioinformatics analysis techniques such as Mendelian randomization and artificial intelligence methods.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) effects one in three adults and is the number one cause of stroke in Northern Ireland. Treatment-resistant hypertension (TRH) relates to hypertensive patients taking three or more antihypertensive medications. Around 10% of hypertensive patients are deemed to have TRH. Patients with TRH are at a higher risk of a range of diseases such as heart failure, cardiac death and all-cause death. Importantly, the causes of TRH and its progression to cardiovascular events and death are poorly understood.
Different types of genetic and biological data can be derived from patients to better understand a particular disease. Combining these different patient data types is advantageous as the data types are complementary to each other and thus allow for a better and more holistic analysis when compared to analysing the data types in isolation. For example, combining genetic and blood protein data from patients can determine if there are proteins associated with the cause or consequence of a particular disease. Combining genetic and blood protein data can also identify proteins which could be targeted by drugs to combat against a disease. This research is in collaboration with the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) group at Ulster University.