Health & Medicine
APOL 1 Gene Puts African Americans at Greater Risk for Kidney Disease
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Nov 10, 2013 11:22 PM EST
A recent study shows that certain genetic factors may put African Americans at a higher risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared to white Americans.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, they looked at two separate studies to come to this conclusion: the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC).
Both studies identified high risk genetic variants found in the APOL 1 gene that speeds up kidney disease progression which eventually leads to kidney failure.
"Even though our studies found that African Americans with two copies of the high-risk APOL1 variants were at higher risk for kidney disease progression, about 40% of the African Americans from the AASK study who also carried the high-risk variants had not progressed at the time of the study," said co-lead author W.H. Linda Kao, PhD, MHS, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Johns Hopkins University, according to a press release. "This finding highlights the importance of identifying factors that may modify the effect of the APOL1 risk variants."
Senior author Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, epidemiology, and international health at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, noted the importance of the APOL1 gene and its effect on kidney disease progression in blacks.
"Blacks with chronic kidney disease and the high-risk genetic variants were more likely to have kidney disease that progressed, compared to both blacks without the high-risk genotype and whites," he said, via the release.
Appel also stated that African Americans with low-risk variants still had a higher risk of developing kidney failure than whites.
"What we found is pretty remarkable - that variations in a single gene account for much of the racial disparity in kidney disease progression and risk for end-stage kidney disease," says co-lead author Afshin Parsa, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, via the release. "If it were possible to reduce the effect of this gene, there could be a very meaningful decrease in progressive kidney and end-stage kidney disease within blacks."
More information regarding the study can be found via the New England Journal of Medicine.
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First Posted: Nov 10, 2013 11:22 PM EST
A recent study shows that certain genetic factors may put African Americans at a higher risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared to white Americans.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, they looked at two separate studies to come to this conclusion: the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC).
Both studies identified high risk genetic variants found in the APOL 1 gene that speeds up kidney disease progression which eventually leads to kidney failure.
"Even though our studies found that African Americans with two copies of the high-risk APOL1 variants were at higher risk for kidney disease progression, about 40% of the African Americans from the AASK study who also carried the high-risk variants had not progressed at the time of the study," said co-lead author W.H. Linda Kao, PhD, MHS, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Johns Hopkins University, according to a press release. "This finding highlights the importance of identifying factors that may modify the effect of the APOL1 risk variants."
Senior author Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, epidemiology, and international health at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, noted the importance of the APOL1 gene and its effect on kidney disease progression in blacks.
"Blacks with chronic kidney disease and the high-risk genetic variants were more likely to have kidney disease that progressed, compared to both blacks without the high-risk genotype and whites," he said, via the release.
Appel also stated that African Americans with low-risk variants still had a higher risk of developing kidney failure than whites.
"What we found is pretty remarkable - that variations in a single gene account for much of the racial disparity in kidney disease progression and risk for end-stage kidney disease," says co-lead author Afshin Parsa, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, via the release. "If it were possible to reduce the effect of this gene, there could be a very meaningful decrease in progressive kidney and end-stage kidney disease within blacks."
More information regarding the study can be found via the New England Journal of Medicine.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone