A pioneering study led by Professor Ifeoma Ulasi, a specialist in Medicine and Nephrology from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and a Consultant Physician at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), reveals that nearly one-third of people in Nigeria and Ghana may be genetically predisposed to kidney disease. The research, titled “APOL1 Bi- and Monoallelic Variants and Chronic Disease in West Africans”, was co-authored by Ulasi and principal investigators Professors Akinlolu, Salako, Dr. Adu, along with collaborators from the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The study found that a common gene variant, APOL1, prevalent among West Africans, significantly raises the risk of developing chronic kidney disease, including a condition known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Although APOL1 plays a role in immune defense, the presence of a single risk variant raises kidney disease risk by 18%, while possessing two variants increases it by 25%.
These results diverge from previous studies on African American populations, which indicated that only two copies of the APOL1 gene variant raised the risk of kidney disease in individuals of African descent.