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
Home BP Monitoring
Most cases of high blood pressure in teens are missed for a number of reasons. One reason is that the most common way to make a diagnosis is to make three or more blood pressure measurements in a doctor's office on separate days. This can be inconvenient. Also, measuring blood pressure in the office might be inaccurate, since children (including teens) might have high values in the office but normal values at home. For these reasons, investigators wish to study a different way to identify teens with high blood pressure. Home BP measurements have been used in Europe to make a diagnosis, but not yet in the United States, and never in a higher risk population of teens. African American teens are at higher risk for high blood pressure than other teens. Investigators will compare the values received from the home BP machines to another method (24 hour ambulatory BP monitoring or ABPM) which is the best standard for diagnosis. Investigators also want to learn more about participants experience and their child's experience with both methods. A small sample of participating teens and parents will be invited to participate in short telephone interviews. This study plans to enroll a total of 750 teens at UH. Recruitment will not take place from other organizations.
Inflammatory Biomarkers in Ocular Surface in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma or Ocular Hypertension Under Topical Prostaglandins
Glaucoma is a chronic optic neuropathy whose main modifiable risk factor is an abnormally elevated intraocular pressure. The aim of glaucoma treatment is to slow the progression of the disease by reducing intraocular pressure. Prostaglandin derivatives are the most effective topical drugs in reducing intraocular pressure (IOP). Among these, latanoprost was the first agent of this type to be approved for use in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. These eye drops are available with and without preservatives. There are two commercial brands in our environment, Xalatan®, which contains 0.005% latanoprost and 0.2 mg/ml benzalkonium chloride (BAK) and Monoprost®, which contains the same amount of latanoprost but does not carry a preservative. The prostaglandin analog with a lower concentration of active ingredient available in Spain without preservative is tafluprost 0.0015%, commercially available under the name Saflutan®. The long-term use of hypotensive eye drops with preservatives generates changes in the ocular surface, such as instability of the tear film, conjunctival inflammation, subconjunctival fibrosis, apoptosis of the conjunctival epithelium and deterioration of the corneal surface, causing symptoms such as stinging, tearing, sensation foreign body, photophobia and blurred vision. This research will evaluate the changes in the ocular surface and in the expression of inflammatory molecules that occur in the conjunctiva in patients with a diagnosis of glaucoma and ocular hypertension who are under ocular hypotensive treatment with tafluprost, comparing it with the two commercial preparations of latanoprost. These three groups of patients will have a control group of patients with a diagnosis of ocular hypertension who will not have any topical hypotensive medication.