Relationship between Blood Pressure and Chronic Kidney Disease in the Japanese Population: The Lower the Better Even in Individuals without Hypertension?

In hypertensive subjects, it has been demonstrated that the lower the blood pressure, the lower the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, whether this relationship holds true in individuals without hypertension--that is, in individuals with a blood pressure <140/90 mmHg--remains unknown. This study was performed to assess the relationship between blood pressure and CKD in a Japanese population without hypertension. Among 13,007 Japanese participants in a general health screening, 9,596 (5,691 men and 3,905 women) were found to have either normal blood pressure or prehypertension, and were enrolled in this study. We categorized these individuals' blood pressure into six classes: BP-C1, <90/<65 mmHg; BP-C2, 90-100/65-70 mmHg; BP-C3, 100-110/70-75 mmHg; BP-C4, 110-120/75-80 mmHg; BP-C5, 120-130/80-85 mmHg; and BP-C6, 130-140/85-90 mmHg. Albuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin excretion ratio of > or =30 mg/g. Low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was defined as eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2. In men, when BP-C3 was used as a reference, multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, body mass index, serum lipid profiles, fasting plasma glucose and smoking status showed that BP-C1, BP-C2, BP-C4, BP-C5 and BP-C6 were associated with albuminuria with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.85 (0.53-6.46), 1.22 (0.59-2.51), 1.62 (1.01-2.59), 2.57 (1.64-4.02), and 3.81 (2.44-5.96). In women, the adjusted odds ratios of the risk for albuminuria in BP-C2, BP-C3, BP-C4, BP-C5 and BP-C6, as compared with BP-C1 as a reference, were 1.83 (0.70-4.79), 2.13 (0.84-5.42), 2.80 (1.10-7.14), 2.59 (0.99-6.78), and 3.99 (1.50-10.64). Blood pressure was not significantly associated with low eGFR in either gender. The risk for albuminuria was significantly greater when blood pressure exceeded 110/75 mmHg in both genders.