Link to High Blood Pressure Isolated

SAN FRANCISCO —  Researchers have isolated and purified a mystery substance they suspect is linked to high blood pressure, an affliction that leaves nearly 60 million Americans at dramatically higher risk of stroke and heart disease, it was announced Thursday.

People with high blood pressure are believed to have increased levels of the substance, which researchers have yet to identify, in their blood.

Isolation of the compound, which appears only in trace amounts, should speed up identification and manufacture of a synthetic version of the substance to be used in future studies, said John Hamlyn, an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

“What we think is that having more of it in the circulation may be effectively raising blood pressure,” said Hamlyn, who has been working to isolate and purify the substance from blood plasma for six years.

Once the substance is identified, synthesized and available for wide study, Hamlyn predicted, it will still be at least eight to 10 years before new relief for sufferers of high blood pressure is available.

Hamlyn presented his research results at a conference of the American Heart Assn.’s Council on High Blood Pressure Research. The study was conducted with scientists from the Upjohn Co., which also provided funds for the project.