Renal Histamine Receptors In Salt Sensitive Hypertension

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a large problem in the United States and globally with about 15% and 13% of people being affected, respectively. This can lead to greater health problems later in life such as heart/kidney failure, strokes, aneurysms, and obesity. One of the primary causes of CKD is hypertension, which affects 25% of adults in the industrialized world. Hypertension is characterized by kidney damage, protein in the urine, loss of appetite, metabolic abnormalities such as vitamin/iron deficiencies. Hypertension often is accompanied by inflammation due to activation and recruitment of immune cells. One of the major factors playing a role in immune and allergic response is histamine. In earlier studies, this amine has been proven to play a role in urine excretion and blood pressure depending on the dosage, and this research explores the specific involvement of histamine in kidney function in relation to salt sensitive hypertension. Preliminary data from my lab has indicated the presence of four histamine receptors (HR) within the kidney and provided the basis of this research to discover if they are differentially expressed