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Patterns of sodium and potassium excretion and blood pressure in the African Diaspora

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 26, pages 315–324 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Habitual levels of dietary sodium and potassium are correlated with age-related increases in blood pressure (BP) and likely have a role in this phenomenon. Although extensive published evidence exists from randomized trials, relatively few large-scale community surveys with multiple 24-h urine collections have been reported. We obtained three 24-h samples from 2704 individuals from Nigeria, Jamaica and the United States to evaluate patterns of intake and within-person relationships with BP. The average (±s.d.) age and weight of the participants across all the three sites were 39.9±8.6 years and 76.1±21.2 kg, respectively, and 55% of the total participants were females. Sodium excretion increased across the East–West gradient (for example, 123.9±54.6, 134.1±48.8, 176.6±71.0 (±s.d.) mmol, Nigeria, Jamaica and US, respectively), whereas potassium was essentially unchanged (for example, 46.3±22.9, 40.7±16.1, 44.7±16.4 (±s.d.) mmol, respectively). In multivariate analyses both sodium (positively) and potassium (negatively) were strongly correlated with BP (P<0.001); quantitatively the association was stronger, and more consistent in each site individually, for potassium. The within-population day-to-day variation was also greater for sodium than for potassium. Among each population group, a significant correlation was observed between sodium and urine volume, supporting the prior finding of sodium as a determinant of fluid intake in free-living individuals. These data confirm the consistency with the possible role of dietary electrolytes as hypertension risk factors, reinforcing the relevance of potassium in these populations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grant numbers R37HL045508 and R01HL053353.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL, USA

    B O Tayo, A Luke, H Kramer, G Cao, R Durazo-Arvizu & R S Cooper

  2. Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

    C A McKenzie & T Forrester

  3. Department of Pediatrics/Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    A A Adeyemo

  4. Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    A A Adeyemo

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  1. B O Tayo
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Correspondence to R S Cooper.

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Tayo, B., Luke, A., McKenzie, C. et al. Patterns of sodium and potassium excretion and blood pressure in the African Diaspora. J Hum Hypertens 26, 315–324 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2011.39

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