Blood pressure follows the kidney: Perinatal influences on hereditary hypertension.

Epidemiological and experimental data strongly suggest that cardiovascular diseases can originate from an aberrant environment during fetal development, a phenomenon referred to as perinatal programming. This review will focus on the role of the kidneys in determining blood pressure, and how (re)programming the renal development can persistently ameliorate hereditary hypertension. By combining physiologic and genomic studies we have discovered some candidate pathways suited for (re)programming the development of hypertension. This sets the stage for mechanistic analysis in future studies.