Urine electrolyte excretion in a hypertensive population of East Africans

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic non‐communicable diseases (NCDs) cause 38 million deaths annually of which 75 % occur in low and middle income countries. Hypertension is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading chronic NCD. Kenya, a country in Sub‐Saharan Africa, has a high prevalence of hypertension of which only ~ 3 % is pharmaceutically controlled. Previous work from our lab identified a population of Kenyans with a high prevalence of hypertension that does not statistically correlate with any known risk factor for the disease such as hyperlipidemia or obesity. Therefore, we hypothesized that consumption of a high Na+ and low K+ diet may be involved in the etiology of hypertension in this community. To test this hypothesis, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels and spot urine samples from 135 people were collected in the morning and evening, and subsequently analyzed for Na+, K+ and Cl− excretion using the Smartlyte Electrolyte Analyzer. Overall mean urine electrolyte excretion values for Na+, K+ and Cl− were 80.2 ± 42.0 mmol/L, 32.0 ± 21.1 mmol/L, and 87.7 ± 42.1 mmol/L respectively. These values fall well within the suggested levels for Na+ (40–220 mmol/L) and K+ (25–125 mmol/L), but under normal excretion levels for Cl− (110–250 mmol/L). Females exhibited higher overall electrolyte excretion when compared to males, with significantly higher excretion levels of K+ (p<0.05). Additionally, there is a significant difference between normotensive and stage I hypertensive individuals in both Na+ (57.9 mmol/L vs. 88.9 mmol/L; p<0.05) and Cl− excretion (65.5 mmol/L vs. 96.7 mmol/L; p<0.05).Support or Funding InformationThis work was funded by a WKU Graduate Studies research award to A. D. and a WKU RCAP award to N.A.R.