Longitudinal Follow-up Study in Two Chinese Hypertension Cohorts

This study is a longitudinal cohort follow-up study. The main contents include: (1) Questionnaire design: the questionnaire is designed according to the research contents and purposes. The standard questionnaires will be used to collect the general information, dietary habits, lifestyle, medical history, and family history etc. (2) Anthropometric measurements: blood pressure, pulse, height, body weight, waist and hip circumference will be acquired by medical practitioners who received professional training based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, and passed relevant examinations. (3) Blood and urine samples collection: morning fasting blood, nocturia, and 24-hour urine specimen will be collected by medical staffs, and blind tubes will be set up according to 5% of the total samples. Blood biochemistries including serum total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, creatinine and hsCRP can be measured using automatic biochemical analyzer. The sodium and potassium concentrations in the urine will be measured by flame photometry. The total sodium and potassium excretions in urine in 24h were calculated by multiplying the concentration and 24-h volume of urine. (4) Auxiliary examinations: Auxiliary examinations including carotid intima-media thickness, endothelium-dependent vasodilation (FMD), measurements of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and electrocardiographic parameters. The measurement will be done in hospitals by medical practitioners who received professional trainings and passed relevant examinations. (5) Whole-exome sequencing: Genomic DNA will be isolated from blood samples and subjected to exome capture, followed by next-generation sequencing on the Roche NimbleGen system. (6) Whole-genome DNA methylation analysis: levels of DNA methylation will be quantified using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450K Beadchip array (HM450K). (7) Transcriptome sequencing: cDNA libraries will be sequenced via the Illumina HiSeqTM 2500 platform. (8) Data processing and statistics: investigators should input the data to the database, and utilize software such as Access, SPSS, STATA, CASAVA, MutSigCV, and Genome MuSic to analyze. (9) Quality control: ① Questionnaire is strictly designed and amended by epidemiologists and clinical experts. ② A standardized "Investigator Handbook" will be stipulated according to the guidelines. ③ Staff members are required to do a rigorous training and pass the exam. ④ The investigation process will be strictly supervised by the principal investigator. ⑤ Data entry uses the parallel double-entry method. ⑥ During laboratory testing, blank control and blind detection are applied to ensure the quality. ⑦ Data analysis is performed by 2-3 postgraduates, inconsistent data need to be double-checked.