Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Heart-felt understanding of blood pressure and kidneys
The renin-angiotensin system is one of our most intricate hormone systems in the human body. It controls our blood pressure and fluid balance, and its effectiveness is vital to our kidney function. Dr Kate Denton says a better understanding of the renin-angiotensin system will lead to significant improvements in blood pressure control. By extension, Kate believes it is an important step in the fight against heart disease and earlier detection of kidney disease.
Hypertension and its associated complications affect men and women during different stages of their lives. Kate is focusing on what controls blood pressure in pregnant women, and what largely protects women from heart disease until menopause.
'One in 10 women experience hypertension during pregnancy,' Kate says. 'It's life-threatening for the mother and the child, and the only therapy we have at the moment is delivery. Blood pressure medication affects the baby, so you normally try to keep the pregnancy going for as long as possible without adversely affecting the mother. We're trying to understand what controls blood pressure during pregnancy.'
'Blood pressure is very different in how it's controlled in men and women. Females have lower blood pressure than males until menopause. Up until menopause, females are protected to a large extent from cardiovascular disease, but if you take the whole population, more women than men are affected. We want to understand why female hormones are protective and how they're helping to regulate blood pressure, and whether we can keep that protection going past menopause,' she says.
Kate says there's an intrinsic link between blood pressure and kidney disease. A healthy kidney consists of one million glomeruli, each of which filters a certain amount of blood, but patients often lose the majority of their kidney function before they have symptoms. Kate says it is important to understand how the individual filters work in order to detect kidney failure earlier.
'When you get down to between 25 and 50 per cent [glomeruli], you start to see signs of renal failure. We hope to work out how they're functioning, what's controlling them and work out methods of detecting renal damage earlier. Using a microscope and little glass pipettes about a micro in diameter at the tip, we can find a glomerulus, measure pressure and collect fluid in a single glomerulus and determine what's happening,' Kate says.
The method they use to do this is called renal micropuncture.
'If you're filtering, the blood pressure in those capillaries determines how much fluid moves across. In healthy glomeruli, pressure is normally kept constant by the constriction of blood vessels. I'm interested in what controls the pressure in those filters, and I can measure that with micropuncture.'
Kate is also exploring how the renal nerves, or sympathetic nerves, control our kidneys and blood pressure. She is using techniques to directly record and stimulate nerve activity.
'There's a lot of evidence in humans that suggests over-activity of the sympathetic nerves can change renal function and drive hypertension. One of the newest treatments for drug resistant hypertension is to sever the nerves around the kidney with laser surgery. I'm looking at how long it takes for nerves to regrow in the kidney once they have been severed,' Kate says.
'The amazing thing about these studies in humans is that they've followed the subjects for up to five years and blood pressure is being kept down significantly. Yet we know the nerves regrow, so what this suggests is that they connect to the tissues differently. Our studies aim to understand how this is occurring.'
Supervision interests
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Kidney
- renin-angiotensin system
- Hypertension
- Renal Developmental Programming
- renal sympathetic nerves
- Pregnancy
- dehydration
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Sex-differences in cellular aging and cardiovascular disease: Role of the AngIV/IRAP axis
Denton, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Walton, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Colafella, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Krause, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Garovic, V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bertram, J. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Combes, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Hennessy, A. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/01/22 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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MediBeacon Transdermal Mini Fluorophore Monitors
Colafella, K., Denton, K., Bubb, K., Cowley, M., Widdop, R., Lyras, D., Samuel, C., Bertram, J. & Parkington, H.
1/10/21 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
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Tracking the development and progression of chronic kidney disease using non-invasive imaging
Bertram, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Bennett, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Denton, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Cullen-McEwen, L. (Project Manager)
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/20 → 31/12/23
Project: Research
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Targeting Prevention and Treatment of Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease
Denton, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/18 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
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Strategies to Prevent glomerular Hyperfiltration INjury in Congenital Solitary kidneys” Acronym: SPHINCS-project
Schreuder, M. F. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Denton, K. (Chief Investigator (CI))
6/12/17 → 5/12/22
Project: Research
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Sex differences in relaxin responses in adults and with aging
Barsha, G. & Denton, K. M., 2025, Sex and Gender Differences in Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic Physiology and Pathophysiology: Sex, Gender and Function. Reckelhoff, J. F., Yanes Cardozo, L. L. & Shawky, N. M. (eds.). 1st ed. London UK: Elsevier, p. 135-160 26 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Targeting the Angiotensin AT2 Receptor to Treat Cardiac Fibrosis and Heart Failure
Wang, Y., Ferens, D., Salimova, E., Borgo, M., Aguilar, M., Gaspari, T., Nguyen, L., Zhu, L., Xu, P., Denton, K., Wang, M., Samuel, C. & Widdop, R., Aug 2024, In: Heart Lung and Circulation. 33, Supplement 4, p. S486 1 p., 783.Research output: Contribution to journal › Meeting Abstract › peer-review
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Antihypertensives and Antibiotics: Impact on Intestinal Dysfunction and Hypertension
Lucas, S. E., Walton, S. L., Mirabito Colafella, K. M., Mileto, S. J., Lyras, D. & Denton, K. M., Jul 2023, In: Hypertension. 80, 7, p. 1393-1402 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Beneficial effects of brief early life angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition wane with time in sheep with solitary functioning kidney
McArdle, Z., Singh, R. R., Bielefeldt-Ohmann, H., Moritz, K. M., Denton, K. M. & Schreuder, M. F., 26 Apr 2023, In: Clinical Science. 137, 8, p. 603-615 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus) -
Brief early life angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition attenuates the diuretic response to saline loading in sheep with solitary functioning kidney
McArdle, Z., Singh, R. R., Moritz, K. M., Schreuder, M. F. & Denton, K. M., 31 Aug 2023, In: Clinical Science. 137, 16, p. 1285-1296 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus)
Prizes
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Education -Innovation in Learning and Teaching
Choate, J. (Recipient), Denton, K. (Recipient), Henry, B. (Recipient), Lee, C. (Recipient), Pinar, A. (Recipient), Price, N. (Recipient), Rajan, R. (Recipient), Taylor, R. (Recipient), Clarke, S. (Recipient), Quiroga, M. (Recipient) & Taylor, A. (Recipient), Oct 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award For Innovation in Learning and Teaching
Choate, J. (Recipient), Pinar, A. (Recipient), Henry, B. (Recipient), Lee, C. (Recipient), Denton, K. (Recipient), Price, N. (Recipient), Rajan, R. (Recipient), Taylor, R. (Recipient), Taylor, A. (Recipient) & Clarke, S. (Recipient), Nov 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)