Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Apr;75(7):736-45.
doi: 10.1038/ki.2008.701. Epub 2009 Jan 28.

Polymorphisms in the non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene (MYH9) are strongly associated with end-stage renal disease historically attributed to hypertension in African Americans

Barry I Freedman  1 , Pamela J Hicks, Meredith A Bostrom, Mary E Cunningham, Yongmei Liu, Jasmin Divers, Jeffrey B Kopp, Cheryl A Winkler, George W Nelson, Carl D Langefeld, Donald W Bowden
Affiliations

Polymorphisms in the non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene (MYH9) are strongly associated with end-stage renal disease historically attributed to hypertension in African Americans

Barry I Freedman et al. Kidney Int. 2009 Apr.

Abstract

African Americans have high incidence rates of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) labeled as due to hypertension. As recent studies showed strong association with idiopathic and HIV-related focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 (MYH9) gene polymorphisms in this ethnic group, we tested for MYH9 associations in a variety of kidney diseases. Fifteen MYH9 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were evaluated in 175 African Americans with chronic glomerulonephritis-associated ESRD, 696 African Americans reportedly with hypertension-associated ESRD, and 948 control subjects without kidney disease. Significant associations were detected with 14 of the 15 polymorphisms in all 871 non-diabetic patients with ESRD. In hypertension-associated ESRD cases alone, significant associations were found with 13 MYH9 polymorphisms and the previously reported E1 haplotype. Thus, hypertension-associated ESRD in African Americans is substantially related to MYH9 gene polymorphisms and this may explain the poor response to blood pressure control in those diagnosed with hypertensive nephrosclerosis. It is possible that many African Americans classified as having hypertension-associated ESRD have occult MYH9-associated segmental or global glomerulosclerosis. Our study shows that gene-environment and/or gene-gene interactions may initiate kidney disease in genetically susceptible individuals, because African Americans homozygous for MYH9 risk alleles do not universally develop kidney disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: All the authors declared no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Gene structure and linkage disequilibrium plot of 49 kb of the MYH9 gene
The genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are shown in relation to their position in the gene. InterSNP D′ values are shown on the plot.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. US Renal Data System. USRDS 2006 Annual Data Report. Atlas of end-stage renal disease in the United States. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Bethesda, MD: 2006. Ref Type: Report.
    1. Schlessinger SD, Tankersley MR, Curtis JJ. Clinical documentation of end-stage renal disease due to hypertension. Am J Kidney Dis. 1994;23:655–660. - PubMed
    1. Freedman BI, Spray BJ, Tuttle AB, et al. The familial risk of end-stage renal disease in African Americans. Am J Kidney Dis. 1993;21:387–393. - PubMed
    1. Freedman BI, Iskandar SS, Appel RG. The link between hypertension and nephrosclerosis. Am J Kidney Dis. 1995;25:207–221. - PubMed
    1. Klag MJ, Whelton PK, Randall BL, et al. Blood pressure and end-stage renal disease in men. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:13–28. - PubMed

Publication types