What the trial was testing
The trial enrolled 2,052 patients with hypertension. The study was sponsored by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
Researchers followed patients through treatment and into recovery, tracking the outcomes that mattered most for the disease being studied.
What the results showed
6 mm Hg drop in systolic blood pressure in high-risk APOL1 carriers.
JAMA Network Open · 2022 · NCT02234063
These findings — that in systolic blood pressure for Black hypertensive patients with high-risk APOL1 genes — were published in the JAMA Network Open and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 2,052 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with hypertension, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
APOL1 genetic testing is increasingly available through commercial labs and academic centers, and some kidney transplant programs already use it. Ask your kidney specialist or primary care doctor about testing if you have African ancestry, hypertension, or family history of kidney failure.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open hypertension trials
Sleep Promotion and Pediatric Hypertension
Determine the effectiveness and feasibility of a mobile health sleep extension approach in the pediatric nephrology setting, to increase sleep duration and reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Arterial Stiffness in Children and Young People With Hypertension and Chronic Kidney Disease
Age related stiffening and hardening of the arteries is often a slow process, but some conditions such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), seem to increase the rate at which the arteries stiffen even during childhood. High blood pressure (BP) is well known to lead to arterial stiffening and is often seen in children and young people (CYP) with CKD. A greater risk of arterial stiffening has been reported in children CYP with CKD compared to healthy CYP and this is thought to be related to the development of high BP, heart problems, and the worsening of kidney damage. The cause is unknown and is unlikely due to age related changes in the arterial wall seen in older adults. Potential mechanisms contributing to arterial stiffening in CYP with CKD include i) abnormalities in the interaction between the heart and the aorta (the large artery pumping blood away from the heart to the rest of the body), overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the body's "stress response", or iii) abnormal metabolism seen in CKD, where there are high levels of phosphate and other waste products circulating in the blood as a result of damage to the kidneys. In this study, the investigators will use a variety of non invasive experimental methods to determine if arterial stiffening seen in CYP with CKD is due solely to increased BP, or whether the other potential factors listed above also contribute. This may help to eventually identify how to prevent or treat arterial stiffness in CYP with CKD and prevent its adverse impact on kidney and heart health in later life. The investigators will compare findings between those with CKD and an age, sex and BP matched control group. This control group will comprise CYP both with high BP (primary hypertension) and without high BP (healthy participants).