Relationship between renal function and blood pressure dipping status in renal transplant recipients: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HT) is associated with adverse outcomes in kidney transplant (KTX) recipients. Blunting of physiological decrease in nighttime compared to daytime blood pressure (non-dipping status) is frequent in this setting. However, weather non-dipping is independently associated with renal function decline in KTX patients is unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively screened KTX outpatients attending for a routine ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) (T1) at a single tertiary hospital. Patients had two successive follow-up visits, 1 (T2) and 2 (T3) years later respectively. Routine clinical and laboratory data were collected at each visit. Mixed linear regression models were used with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as the dependent variable. RESULTS: A total of 123 patients were included with a mean follow-up of 2.12 ± 0.45 years after ABPM. Mean age and eGFR at T1 were 56.0 ± 15.1 and 54.9 ± 20.0 mL/min/1.73m(2) respectively. 61 patients (50.4%) had sustained HT and 81 (65.8%) were non-dippers. In multivariate analysis, systolic dipping status was positively associated with eGFR (p = 0.009) and compared to non-dippers, dippers had a 10.4 mL/min/1.73m(2) higher eGFR. HT was negatively associated with eGFR (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: We confirm a high prevalence of non-dippers in KTX recipients. We suggest that preserved systolic dipping is associated with improved renal function in this setting independently of potential confounders, including HT and proteinuria. Whether modification of dipping status by chronotherapy would preserve renal function remains to be tested in clinical trials. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12882-021-02523-7.