bioRxivNov 9, 2026, 19:59 GMT

Genetic study links fat-handling proteins to blood pressure

A genetic analysis of 373,882 adults under 60 linked higher predicted levels of four fat-handling proteins to lower blood pressure.

Paper by Svitlana Braichenko, Andrii Iakovliev, Jay Dyer, +3Paul M McKeigue · Western General Hospital

Fig 1. Correlation between GATE scores for the 27 exposures in Table 1 computed using the LD matrix between SNPs in UK Biobank participants of European ancestry.Correlation between GATE scores for the 27 exposures in Table 1 computed using the LD matrix between SNPs in UK Biobank participants of European ancestry.Braichenko et al., CC BY-NC-ND

Our read

Mechanisms

Studied:: Preprint: genetic association study of 373,882 individuals aged less than 60 years (Dose-response)
What changed:: Mean arterial pressure was lower with genetic upregulation of circulating lipoprotein lipase
The catch:: Blood pressure could affect plasma proteins, so the causal direction may be reversed
In the record:: The 9th paper on LPL with results in people; 79 on record in all.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

In 373,882 adults of European ancestry under 60 from the UK’s Our Future Health study, an observational genetic analysis tested links between genetically predicted blood protein levels and blood pressure. The strongest link involved lipoprotein lipase, a protein that helps clear fats called triglycerides from blood after meals. Higher predicted levels were associated with lower mean arterial pressure, a measure of average blood pressure, but higher body mass index, a weight-for-height measure. Three other fat-handling proteins showed similar links.

In a separate analysis of data from 135,916 people, genetic scores for all four proteins were associated with lower triglyceride levels in certain fat-carrying particles. The authors suggested that proteins regulating fat clearance after meals play a key role in high blood pressure, independently of body fat.

Why it matters

High blood pressure is a concern in later life. This work asks whether fat processing offers clues to its biology beyond the link with body fat.

Caveats

Genetic variants may affect blood pressure through routes other than these proteins; most cohorts in the lipid analysis were classified as fasted. The main blood pressure analysis covered adults of European ancestry under 60, and this bioRxiv preprint has not been peer-reviewed.