| Publications: | Plough
Foundation Professor of Pediatrics Division of Pediatric Cardiology Former Director, UTHSC General Clinical Research Center 
In 1981 Dr. Bruce Alpert’s team of investigators made the observation that the exercise blood pressure (BP) in a group of African-American children aged 6-15 was higher than the BP obtained in a similar group of white children. The same difference in stress-related BP was noted in response to a video game played under laboratory conditions. At UTHSC Dr. Alpert confirmed this differential BP response to several stressors in both urban and rural African-Americans. The next step in the investigation of the markers and mechanisms of the evolution of hypertension in African-Americans was to demonstrate that heightened peripheral vascular resistance explained the higher BP. In his most recent NIH grant, “Genetics of Cardiovascular Reactivity in Black Youth,” Dr. Alpert, Dr. Robert Kelsey, and their co-investigators studied the relationship(s) among measures of BP reactivity to four different laboratory stressors and polymorphisms (SNPs) in over 40 genes that are involved with the induction of vasoconstriction, leading to elevated BP. These results will lead to new interventions to prevent and treat hypertension in African-American children and adults. |
Urbina E, Alpert BS. Flynn J, Hayman L, Harshfiled, G, Jacobson M, Mahoney L, McCrindle B, Mietus-Snyder M, Steinberger J, Daniels S. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in children and adolescents: recommended for standard assessment. Atherosclerosis, Hypertension & Obesity in Youth Committee of the Cardiovascular Disease in the Young Council of the American Hearth Association, Hypertension, 2008, 52:433-451 Collins RT, Somes GW, Alpert BS. Differences in Arterial Compliance Among Normotensive Adolescent Groups. Pediatr Cardiol. 2008 Apr 24. [Epub ahead of print] Velásquez-Mieyer PA, Cowan PA, Pérez-Faustinelli S, Nieto-Martínez R, Villegas-Barreto C, Tolley EA, Lustig RH, Alpert BS. Racial disparity in glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and inflammation markers among severely obese adolescents. Diabetes Care 2008; 31(4):770-775 Richey PA, DiSessa TG, Somes GW, Alpert BS, Jones DP. Ambulatory blood pressure predicts increased left ventricular mass in children at risk for hypertension. J Pediatr. 2008 Mar;152(3):343-348 Jones DP, Richey PA, Alpert BS, Li R. Serum uric acid and ambulatory blood pressure in children with primary hypertension. Pediatr Res, 2008, 64:556-561 Friedman B, Alpert BS, Osborn D, Prisant LM, Quinn D, Seller J. Assessment of the validation of blood pressure monitors: a statistical reappraisal. Blood Press Monit, 2008, 13:187-191 Knecht KR, Seller J, Alpert BS. Korotkoff sounds in infants, neonates, and toddlers. Am J Cardiol, 2009, 103:1165-1167 Collins RT, Alpert BS. Prehypertension and hypertension in pediatrics: Don’t let the statistics hide the pathology. J Pediatr, 2009, in press Li R, Richey P, DiSessa. T, Alpert BS, Jones DP. Blood aldosterone-to-renin ratio, ambulatory blood pressure, and left ventricular mass in children. J Pediatr, 2009, May 20. [Epub ahead of print] Collins RT, Somes GW, Alpert BS. Arterial stiffness is increased in American adolescents compared to Japanese counterparts. Pediatr Cardiol, 2009, Apr 9. [Epub ahead of print] Collins RT, Alpert BS. Nonpharmacologic treatment of pediatric hypertension. In Pediatric Hypertension, 2nd Edition, Portman RJ, Flynn J, Ingelfinger JR, eds., Humana Press, 2009 Jones DP, Richey PA, Alpert BS. Comparison of ambulatory blood pressure reference standards in children evaluated for hypertension. Blood Pressure Monit, 2009, 14(3):103-107 Fitzgibbon LK, Alpert BS. Recommendations for clinical assessment, sports participation, and management in hypertensive athletics. Am J Lifestyle Med, 2009, in press. |