Background:
The presence of chronic kidney disease is greater in African Americans than in non-Hispanic whites. Though there is data to show a relation between endothelial dysfunction and end-stage kidney disease, the relation to mild and moderate chronic kidney disease (particularly in African Americans) is unclear.
Methods and Results:
Digital arterial tonometry was performed during Exam 2 and 3 of the Jackson Heart Study using the endoPAT2000. Data from digital arterial tonometry included baseline pulse wave amplitude (BPA) as a measure of endothelial tone and reactive hyperemic index (F-RHI) as a measure of endothelial function. For this study, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the MDRD equation. Those participants with eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 were defined as having CKD. Participants with eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73m2 were excluded from the analysis. Microalbuminuria in this study was defined as a urinary albumin:creatinine ratio ≥ 17mg/g in men and ≥ 25 mg/g in women. We compared the differences in least square means adjusted for age and sex, and adjusted for multiple traditional clinical covariates using a generalized linear model.
Results:
There were 834 participants in the study population (mean age 58.5 years, 61% women); 87 (10.4%) participants with CKD and 108 (13.0%) with microalbuminuria. In age and sex adjusted samples, we found that both BPA and F-RHI were significantly associated with CKD in the pooled samples. However in multivariable adjusted analysis the relation was no longer significant in either the pooled or sex-specific samples. In the multivariable adusted analysis,BPA was significantly (P=0.036) associated with microalbuminuria in men and F-RHI was weakly significantly (P=0.08) associated with microalbuminuria in women.
Conclusion:
We found that endothelial dysfunction as measured by digital arterial tonometry is not significantly associated with chronic kidney disease. There is an association of endothelial tone in men and endothelial dysfunction in women with microalbuminuria.
The relation of C - reactive protein to chronic kidney disease in African Americans: the Jackson Heart Study
