REN and kidney disorder: In a community-based sample of African Americans enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), we sought to identify biomarkers of interest and evaluate their incremental predictive value from a multi-marker panel representing physiological pathways implicated in kidney diseases: adiposity (adiponectin and leptin); adrenal (aldosterone and cortisol); endothelial function (endothelin and homocysteine); inflammation (C - reactive protein, [CRP]); natriuretic (B-type Natriuretic Peptide [BNP]) and renin angiotensin (plasma renin activity, and renin mass).