Whether the mouse cell findings are true in humans is tough to answer but it appears measuring prostasis, which is excreted in the urine, may be a way to gauge ENaC activity in humans. Dong already is measuring its levels in obese people with and without hypertension as well as normal-weight individuals. A simple urine test could one day help identify those at risk for or experiencing this type of inflammation-based hypertension, he said.

A number of cholesterol-lowering or antihypertensive agents already on the market - including statins and angiotensin antagonists - are known to block some aspect of inflammation. Angiotensin antagonists, for example, block production of angiotensin II, which constricts blood vessels and increases IL-6 production. "There may be a good reason to prescribe these types of drugs to obese people," Dong said.

A 2010 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said about half the 70 million Americans with high blood pressure were keeping it under control by taking medicine and nearly half the people with high blood pressure are obese. Twenty percent have diabetes, typically associated with obesity.

Source: Medical College of Georgia