Project Grant R01DK141813

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases awarded Boston Medical Center Corporation $888,383 on September 1, 2026, under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) to investigate dietary potassium and gene-environment interactions in apolipoprotein L1 nephropathy.

The research examines how dietary potassium intake modulates kidney disease progression and hypertension in individuals carrying APOL1 high-risk genotypes, which occur in 13 percent of African Americans and drive disproportionate chronic kidney disease burden in this population. The study builds on prior findings showing that Black individuals with high-risk genotypes consuming high dietary potassium were 67 percent less likely to experience progressive chronic kidney disease than those with low potassium intake. The project will determine the impact of dietary potassium on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, inflammation, and blood pressure across APOL1 genotypes using stored human samples with three-year follow-up data from the investigator's prior K23 study, combined with translational research in APOL1 transgenic mice. The central hypothesis posits that low potassium intake in high-risk genotype carriers stimulates angiotensin II production, increasing interferon-gamma and APOL1 gene expression, leading to podocytopathy, chronic kidney disease progression, and endothelial dysfunction.

Work is performed in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through May 31, 2030.