PATHOGENESIS OF PRIMARY HYPERTENSION - LESSONS FROM RENAL-TRANSPLANTATION STUDIES

Post-transplantation hypertension is a frequent problem in patients af ter their renal transplantation [1]. Among the most frequently cited c auses of post-transplantation hypertension are immunological graft rej ection and treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. Little attention ha s been paid to the possibility of a causal influence of primary hypert ension in the donors on the genesis of post-transplantation hypertensi on in recipients [2, 3]. In a clinical situation this problem is hard to study, since reliable blood pressure readings from the donors are o ften not available, and since other blood pressure elevating mechanism s such as graft rejection or drugs may interfere. On the other hand, t hese potentially confounding variables can be well controlled in exper imental transplantation studies in genetically hypertensive rats.