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(Hypertension. 2004;44:e6.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Blood Pressure, Resting Energy Expenditure, and Creatine Kinase Activity

Department of Internal Medicine, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

In a recent paper, Luke et al¹ found a significant association between resting energy expenditure (REE) and blood pressure in black people of sub-Saharan African descent. This association was independent of the body mass index (BMI). The odds ratio for hypertension among participants in the highest versus lowest quartile of REE adjusted for body size and age was 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.7).

We read this paper with great interest, as the results presented are in-line with our postulate that a genetic factor that increases the ability of black people of sub-Saharan African descent to develop high blood pressures is relatively high activity of creatine kinase (CK), the central regulatory enzyme of cellular energy metabolism.²

Creatine kinase activity is reported to be a determinant of resting energy expenditure,³ and high activities of this enzyme are particularly described in black people.² Creatine kinase increases the cell’s capacity to function under high demands. The enzyme regulates, buffers, and transports, via phosphocreatine and creatine, energy produced by glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation to sites of energy consumption such as myofibrils and membrane ion pumps. At these cellular locations, it is involved in the contraction process and active transmembranous transport by readily providing ATP needed for these processes. Thus, greater creatine kinase activity in cardiovascular muscle and other tissues with high energy demands could increase cardiovascular contractile reserve, enhance trophic responses, and increase renal tubular ability to retain salt. This could facilitate the development of arterial hypertension.^2,4 Therefore, individuals with . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Amy Luke

Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois

Adebowale Adeyemo

Department of Pediatrics, University College Hospital, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Holly Kramer

Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois

Terrence Forrester

Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

Richard S. Cooper

Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois