NEPHRON NUMBER, GLOMERULAR SIZE AND HYPERTENSION IN AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL PEOPLE

摘要

Background: Aborigines living in remote areas of Australia have much higher rates of renal disease, as well as hypertension and cardiovascular disease, than non-Aboriginal Australians. We estimated total glomerular number (N_glom) and mean giomerular volume (V_glom) in Australian Aborigines and whites, and also evaluated whether hypertension is linked to glomerular number and size in. Aborigines. Methods: Stereological estimates of N_gIom were obtained using the physical disector/fractionator technique on autopsy kidneys from 19 Aborigines and 24 non-Aboriginal people in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Of these 19 Aborigines, 5 were classified as having a history of hypertension and 8 were classified as having no hypertension recorded. The history of hypertension was derived from relatives and local community clinics.