Knowing your kidneys and chronic kidney disease

APOL1-mediated kidney disease

• APOL1-mediated kidney disease is caused by a substance in the body called the APOL1 protein.
• We all have the APOL1 protein; however, some people have differences in their DNA (the genetic material in our body that carries information about how our body works) that means they carry a modified type of APOL1 protein, known as a variant.
• People with APOL1 variants are at a higher risk for chronic kidney disease, but it is still not known how the variants causes kidney disease.
• Several thousand years ago, APOL1 variant genes evolved in people who lived in Western and Central Africa, to protect them from a parasitic disease known as African sleeping sickness.
• This means that variants of APOL1 are more likely to occur in people of African descent, including people who identify as African American, Black, Caribbean, Sub-Saharan African, and Latino (Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or South or Central American).