THE PRESENCE OF RENIN ACTIVITY IN BLOOD VESSEL WALLS

The preparation, of an extract of hog blood vessels and organs containing renin activity has been described. The extract hydrolyzes natural or synthetic renin substrate to form a vasopressor material. This reaction could not be distinguished from the hydrolysis of renin substrates by kidney renin. The activation energy, effect of substrate concentration on velocity, inhibition by antirenin, and pH optimum of the extract and of kidney renin are the same. Renin activity is found in the adventitia and media of the aorta, the liver and, to a lesser extent, in other vascular organs.

The early systolic sound in dilatation of the pulmonary artery

Images

Solitary pulmonary hypertension

Images

Spatial social polarisation: using the Index of Concentration at the Extremes jointly for income and race/ethnicity to analyse risk of hypertension

BACKGROUND

Growing spatial social and economic polarisation may be an important societal determinant of health, but only a few studies have used the recently developed Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) to analyse the impact of joint concentrations of privilege and privation on health outcomes. We explore use of the ICE to investigate risk of hypertension in an urban, multiracial/ethnic, and predominantly working-class study population of US adults.

METHODS

We generated novel ICE measures at the census tract level that jointly assess extreme concentrations of both income and racial/ethnic composition. We then linked the ICE measures to data from two observational, cross-sectional studies conducted in the Boston metropolitan area (2003-2004; 2008-2010; N=2145).

RESULTS

The ICE measure for extreme concentrations of white compared with black residents was independently associated with lower odds of hypertension (OR=0.76; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.93), controlling for race/ethnicity, age, gender, smoking, body mass index, household income, education and self-reported exposure to racial discrimination. Even stronger associations were observed for the ICE measures that compared concentrations of high-income white residents versus low-income residents of colour (OR=0.61; 95% CI 0.40 to 0.96) and high-income white versus low-income black residents (OR=0.48; 95% CI 0.29 to 0.81).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest public health studies should explore the joint impact of racial/ethnic and economic spatial polarisation on population health.