title: APOL1 variants and kidney disease. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
abstract: A recent study by Genovese et al. unraveled the findings of the intensively discussed gene region around MYH9 and its association with non-diabetic chronic kidney disease in African-Americans. First, it is not the genetic variation in MYH9 but in the neighbouring APOL1 that causes the strong association with disease in African-Americans and second, the study showed strong evidence for a positive selection against vulnerability for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection but at the price of a higher susceptibility of non-diabetic chronic kidney disease. This overview reviews the findings and the possible impact of the study mentioned above as well as of related studies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. florian.kronenberg@i-med.ac.at
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kronenberg
mesh_terms: D000075944:Apolipoprotein L1; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C108666:APOL1 protein, human; D000075944:Apolipoprotein L1; D001053:Apolipoproteins; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL