Commonly prescribed drugs used to treat high blood pressure have been shown over time to destroy the kidneys’ ability to filter and purify the blood, but exactly how that dangerous side effect played out has been a mystery. Researchers at the University of Virginia say they have solved the mystery.

UVA researchers found that the drugs rewire the kidneys to do something other than the important job of filtering the blood. The kidneys begin to produce more of a hormone called renin; nerve endings grow excessively; the cells that line the small blood vessels of the kidneys become too large; scars form and spread; and inflammation sets in, which “can have a terrible effect on the kidneys,” according to a UVA Health press release.

the result, pointed out in the researchers’ new paper in the journal Circulation Research, it is a “silent but serious” vascular disease in which the kidneys become zombie-like, turning into something unwanted and unwanted while abandoning their critical duties.

Now that they know the cause, researchers say the next step is to figure out how to use effective blood pressure drugs known as renin-angiotensin system inhibitors — often called RAS inhibitors — while stopping the damaging effects on the kidneys.

“The most commonly used and considered safe blood pressure medications can harm the kidneys,” said Dr. R. Ariel Gomez of the UVA Child Health Research Center. “We need to understand exactly the effects of long-term use of RAS inhibitors on the kidneys.”

RAS inhibitors, which include the generics enalapril, lisinopril, ramipril and others, are commonly prescribed when a patient is first diagnosed with high blood pressure, a condition that affects 120 million people in the US, or nearly half of the adult population. according to the data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High blood pressure can cause heart attacks, strokes and other vascular diseases.