Aldosterone and aldosterone: Renin ratio associations with insulin resistance and blood pressure in African Americans

Yonghong Huan, Stephanie DeLoach, Scott W. Keith, Theodore L. Goodfriend, Bonita Falkner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

African Americans have more hypertension and hypertension-related morbidity than whites. Aldosterone, in presence of a high salt intake, contributes to hypertension and tissue injury. Inappropriately elevated aldosterone levels could explain this racial disparity. Our study was conducted to determine if aldosterone is associated with elevated blood pressure (BP) or insulin resistance, independent of obesity. A study was conducted on 483 young adult African Americans without cardiovascular or renal disease. Measurements included anthropometrics, BP, lipids, glucose, insulin, aldosterone, and renin. Urine sodium and potassium estimated sodium intake. The cohort was stratified by tertiles of aldosterone and tertiles of aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR). Average urine sodium/potassium ratio was >3.0 in all groups. Insulin resistance, estimated by homeostasis model, was lowest in the low aldosterone group (geometric mean 1.5 [0.6, 2.2]) compared with the high aldosterone group (1.7 [0.9, 2.7], P <.01). Adjusted analyses detected a significant association of aldosterone with insulin resistance, independent of other variables. BP was significantly higher in the high ARR group compared with low and mid ARR groups (P <.01). The significant association of ARR with BP with high dietary sodium suggests that insufficiently suppressed aldosterone may contribute to BP sensitivity to sodium in African Americans.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)56-65
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the American Society of Hypertension
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • African Americans
  • Aldosterone
  • blood pressure
  • insulin resistance
  • renin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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