Steve Sansom, Ph.D., professor in the department of cellular/integrative physiology, was the lead author on research findings published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), one of the world’s most-cited multidisciplinary scientific serials.
Through his research, which was the graduate dissertation work of P. Richard Grimm, the team found that mice with a genetic defect — in which the kidney does not properly remove potassium from the body — become hypertensive because of increased hormone levels that retain salt and water.
It had been known for several years, Dr. Sansom said, that mice became hypertensive when a certain protein-producing gene was deleted. Researchers thought the defect produced the high blood pressure because it was found in the blood vessels. The UNMC team, however, discovered that the protein also was in the kidney and was responsible for eliminating potassium. Thus, mice with a high potassium diet had increased hypertension.
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P. Richard Grimm, left, and Steve Sansom, Ph.D. |
“It is especially interesting because it is normally recognized that a diet of high potassium helps keep blood pressure low,” Dr. Sansom said. “However, in a small minority of the population, potassium might be causing an increase in blood pressure.”
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