Genetic control of the spontaneous hypertension in the NZB/Cr strain of mice. Immunogenetic considerations.

NZB/Cr mice spontaneously develop a high blood pressure. This hypertension is developed during the first two months of age. F1-hybrids between NZB/Cr and C57/B1/6J (a normotensive mouse strain which does not spontaneously develop hypertension) also develop a high blood pressure, showing that the phenomenon is inherited as a dominant trait. The gene(s) responsive for the phenotypic high blood pressure is localised outside the MHC of the mouse (the H-2 complex). However, H-2 typing of backcrosses and F2-hybrids gave a weak evidence that genes located in or closely linked to the H-2 complex do influence the spontaneously developed high blood pressure in the NZB/Cr strain of mice. It is emphasized that further studies in larger populations of mice is necessary to establish the importance of linkage of genes to the H-2 comlex for the spontaneous hypertension in the NZB/Cr strain of mice.