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Antihypertensive (thiazide diuretic)

Hydrochlorothiazide

One of the most widely prescribed blood pressure drugs, and one already known to raise blood sugar and triglycerides in some people. A common variant moves how much.

What this drug connects to

Hydrochlorothiazide Condition: Blood Pressure Blood Pressure Condition Variant: rs61652119 · NELL1 rs61652119 · NELL1 Variant Variant: rs8176786 · NELL1 rs8176786 · NELL1 Variant Hydrochlorothiazide Hydrochloro… Antihyperten…

The genes involved

NELL1

Blood Pressure →

Hydrochlorothiazide is one of the most widely prescribed antihypertensives, and it is already known to raise blood sugar and triglycerides in some people — the mechanism was not well understood. A genome-wide study across two clinical trials found a variant near NELL1 where each copy of the reported allele corresponded to about a 28 mg/dL rise in triglycerides after starting the drug, genome-wide significant in African American participants. NELL1 represses fat-cell differentiation in other contexts, which the authors suggest as a plausible route to the metabolic effect, though this study establishes the statistical association rather than the mechanism.

Duarte JD et al., The Pharmacogenomics Journal 2014 — genome-wide association analysis of adverse metabolic response to hydrochlorothiazide in African Americans. PMID:23400010

Whose work this rests on

Every guideline above was written by people. Named here because they are contributors to this page in the same sense anybody else on this site is.

Variants MyGeneLog™ reports for these genes

These are the positions in your own file that carry the genes above. Not every gene in a guideline is one we report — where that is the case the gene appears above without a variant here, and the note says so.

Body mass index

NELL1 · rs61652119

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Serum levels of protein FAM189A2

NELL1 · rs8176786

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Questions about Hydrochlorothiazide

What is hydrochlorothiazide?

Hydrochlorothiazide is one of the most widely prescribed blood pressure drugs. It’s already known to raise blood sugar and triglycerides in some people, and a common variant moves how much.

Does the NELL1 variant affect how much hydrochlorothiazide raises triglycerides?

Yes, on average. In a genome-wide study across two clinical trials, each copy of the reported NELL1-region allele corresponded to about a 28 mg/dL rise in triglycerides after starting hydrochlorothiazide, reaching genome-wide significance in African American participants.

Does the NELL1 variant mean hydrochlorothiazide shouldn’t be prescribed to me?

No. Blood sugar and triglycerides are already routinely monitored in people taking hydrochlorothiazide regardless of genotype; this finding explains part of why the size of that known effect varies between people.

Quoting this page

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Hydrochlorothiazide. MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/drugs/hydrochlorothiazide

This page is educational and contains no dosing information. Where a clinical guideline covers one of these gene-drug pairs it is written for prescribers and works through validated algorithms alongside clinical monitoring. Nothing here is a reason to start, stop, or change a medication — that conversation belongs with the clinician or pharmacist managing your treatment.