Retraction to: Hypertension Research (2011) 34, 62–69; doi:10.1038/hr.2010.186

The authors have indicated to the journal that this paper should be retracted as it contains honest errors, which cannot be corrected accurately by the existing data. After careful consideration, Hypertension Research editorial committee formally retracts this paper with agreement of the authors.

This article has published corrigenda in Volume 34, Issue 1, page 152, doi:10.1038/hr.2010.219 and Volume 36, Issue 7, page 655, doi:10.1038/hr.2013.54. These corrigenda are retracted together with the Original Article.