Causes and consequences of increased sympathetic activity in renal disease

Much evidence indicates increased sympathetic nervous activity (SNA) in renal disease. Renal ischemia is probably a primary event leading to increased SNA. Increased SNA often occurs in association with hypertension. However, the deleterious effect of increased SNA on the diseased kidney is not only caused by hypertension. Another characteristic of renal disease is unbalanced nitric oxide (NO) and angiotensin (Ang) activity. Increased SNA in renal disease may be sustained because a state of NO-Ang II unbalance is also present in the hypothalamus. Very few studies have directly compared the efficacy of adrenergic blockade with other renoprotective measures. Third-generation beta-blockers seem to have more protective effects than traditional beta-blockers, possibly via stimulation of NO release. Although it has been extensively documented that muscle SNA is increased in chronic renal failure, data on renal SNA and cardiac SNA are not available for these patients before end-stage renal disease. It is also unknown whether additional treatment with third-generation beta-blockers can delay the progression of renal injury and prevent cardiac injury in chronic renal failure more efficiently than conventional treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors only.