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Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
08:50

Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Published on: June 16, 2014

Are biomarkers useful for assessing cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic kidney disease?

Clifford Rubin1, Thomas D Nolin, Jonathan Himmelfarb

  • 1Division of Nephrology and Transplantation, Department of Medicine, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine 04102, USA.

Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension
|December 20, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Cardiovascular disease is a major concern in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Current biomarkers show limited utility for predicting risk in CKD patients, necessitating novel approaches.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Cardiology
  • Biomarker Discovery

Background:

  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events.
  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in CKD patients.
  • Traditional risk factors are highly prevalent and underestimate CVD risk in CKD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review and critically assess studies evaluating cardiovascular risk biomarkers in CKD.
  • To determine the clinical utility of these biomarkers for risk prediction.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of recent studies on cardiovascular risk biomarkers in CKD.
  • Critical appraisal of biomarker utility in clinical practice.

Main Results:

  • Nontraditional biomarkers (inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, etc.) are associated with increased CVD risk and mortality in CKD.
  • Biomarkers directly related to kidney function loss are prevalent in CKD patients.
  • Existing prediction models using traditional factors underestimate CVD risk in CKD.

Conclusions:

  • Current single or multiple biomarkers have limited prognostic utility in CKD.
  • Novel biomarker development using systems biology is urgently needed.
  • Improved biomarkers are essential for better cardiovascular risk assessment in CKD.
Abstract

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