For three decades, coronary artery bypass grafting has been a lifesaver for millions of Americans. But it comes with a trade-off: up to 8% of patients who have bypass surgery experience impaired kidney function.
In a new study, researchers at Duke University Medical Center suggest an intriguing genetic link that apparently protects kidney function after bypass surgery. Following up on their previous findings that the E4 variant of the apolipoprotein (APO) gene was linked with increased cognitive decline following bypass surgery, the researchers tracked blood levels of creatinine in 564 patients after they had such surgery. They compared creatinine levels with the patients' APOE variants.
Those with the E4 variant, which is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer disease, had significantly lower creatinine blood levels than patients with the E2 or E3 variants. Higher creatinine levels indicate that the kidneys' ability to filter blood has . . . [Full Text of this Article]
