Hypertension in Man with a Kidney Transplant: Role of Familial versus Other Factors

Abstract

Genetic factors are clearly involved in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in man. In at least three rat models of genetic hypertension it is possible to transplant the hypertension with the kidney. To see whether or not the same is true for humans, we carried out a 2-year retrospective study of 50 selected recipients of a cadaver kidney. We correlated the following factors by multivariate statistical analyses: presence or absence of hypertension in the family of donor and recipients; donor’s and recipient’s age; mean blood pressure (MBP) and antihypertensive therapy (AHT) score during dialysis; months of dialysis and body surface before transplantation; body weight, plasma creatinine, prednisone dosage and cumulative rejections with MBP and AHT score at various time intervals after transplantation. The results obtained showed that, considering the recipients coming from normotensive families, the AHT score after transplantation was significantly greater (p < 0.05 1st and p < 0.0l 2nd year) in the patients receiving a kidney removed from donors with hypertensive families than in the patients receiving a kidney removed from donors with normotensive families. This difference was not present when the recipients coming from hypertensive parents were considered. AHT score after transplantation is also correlated with AHT score on dialysis (p < 0.01 1st and 2nd year), body weight (p < 0.02 1st and p < 0.01 2nd year), cumulative rejections (p < 0.025 1st and 2nd year) and inverse MBP after dialysis (p < 0.025 2nd year).