Endocrine causes of secondary hypertension include pheochromocytoma,
hyperdeoxycorticosteronism, Cushing’s syndrome, apparent mineralocorticoid
excess/11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency and primary aldosteronism. They
comprise of the 5-10% of the causes of secondary hypertension. The identification of
the genetic determinants of hypertension has been most successful in endocrine forms
of hypertension. Moreover, the latest discoveries in molecular pathogenesis of these
disease will provide an important basis for future personalized therapy. A promising
area for the application of genetic testing to personalized therapy is the prediction of
responses and adverse reactions to antihypertensive drugs. Herein, we review the
different forms of endocrine hypertension, with a focus on prevalence and human
genetic studies of endocrine causes of secondary hypertension, focusing on the most
prominent and latest discovered genes; and related biochemical pathways reported in
the literature.
Keywords: Apparent mineralocorticoid excess/11ß-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase deficiency Cushing’s syndrome, Biochemical findings, Endocrinal
Hyper-tension, Genetic testing, Hypertension, Hyperdeoxycorticosteronism,
Pheochro-mocytoma, Primary aldosteronism, Prevalence, Secondary
hypertension.
