Renal blood flow,sodium handling and the DASH diet

描述(申请人提供)：本K24奖项申请书旨在为保罗·R·柯林医学博士提供支持，让他有受保护的时间致力于以患者为中心的研究，并担任初级临床研究人员的导师。他的长期目标是通过临床试验，为了解生活方式改变对肾脏和心血管疾病风险因素的影响做出重大贡献。康林博士研究了饮食模式和钠对肾脏/肾上腺功能和心血管疾病风险因素的影响。他最近是DASH(阻止高血压的饮食方法)和DASH-钠研究的合作研究员，这两项研究表明，富含水果、蔬菜和低脂乳制品的低脂饮食(DASH饮食)无论是单独还是在限制钠的情况下都能显著降低血压。他现在正在研究三种饮食模式对肾脏和心血管疾病风险因素(血压和血脂)的影响。这项申请提出了新的具体目标，他将在其中研究DASH饮食对肾脏的影响-特别是肾脏血流量、肾脏血管阻力和钠排泄。这些研究将检验DASH饮食以模拟ACE抑制的方式扩张肾脏血管和增加钠排泄的假设。这些研究将在正常高血压和1期高血压患者中进行，亚组分析将在非裔美国人中进行。这些研究的结果将揭示DASH饮食对肾脏/心血管疾病风险患者的危险因素和对肾功能的保护作用的附加值。Conlin博士致力于招募和指导初级临床研究人员，特别是那些对肾脏心血管生理学、介入性营养或学术内分泌学感兴趣的人。他最近指导了6名研究员和初级教员，其中许多人获得了独立的拨款支持。此外，他还将在哈佛医学院K30资助的“临床科学学者”项目中教授以患者为中心的初级研究调查员。因此，在该奖项的支持下，他将在多个层面上对未来以患者为导向的研究产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):This application for a K24 award is to provide support for Paul R. Conlin, MD to allow him protected time to devote to patient-oriented research and to act as a mentor for beginning clinical investigators. His long-term goal is to make significant contributions to the understanding of lifestyle modifications as they impact on renal and cardiovascular disease risk factors through clinical trials. Dr. Conlin has investigated the impact of dietary patterns and sodium on renal/adrenal function and cardiovascular disease risk factors. He was recently a collaborating investigator in the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and DASH-Sodium studies, which showed that a low-fat diet enriched in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products (DASH diet) either alone or with sodium restriction significantly lowered blood pressure. He is now studying the effect of three dietary patterns on renal and cardiovascular disease risk factors (blood pressure and lipid profile). This application proposes new specific aims in which he will study the effects of the DASH diet on the kidney- in particular, renal blood flow, renal vascular resistance and sodium excretion. These studies will test the hypotheses that the DASH diet vasodilates the renal vasculature and enhances sodium excretion in a manner that mimics ACE inhibition. These studies will be performed in individuals with high normal and Stage 1 hypertension, and subgroup analyses will be performed in African Americans. The results of these studies will reveal the added-value of the DASH diet on risk factors and protective effects on renal function in patients at risk for renal/cardiovascular disease. Dr. Conlin is fully committed to recruiting and mentoring junior clinical investigators destined for careers in patient-oriented research, particularly those interested in renal cardiovascular physiology, interventional nutrition or academic endocrinology, He has recently mentored 6 fellows and junior faculty, many of whom have achieved independent grant support. In addition, he will teach junior patient-oriented research investigators in the K30 funded "Scholars in Clinical Science" Program at Harvard Medical School. Thus, with the support of this award he will have significant impact on future patient-oriented research at multiple levels.