Vascular calcification plays a major role in cardiovascular disease, which is one of the main causes of mortality in chronic kidney disease patients. Vascular calcification is determined by prevalent traditional and uraemia-related (non-traditional) risk factors. It occurs mainly in the arteries, which are classified into three types according to their size and structural characteristics. In ad...

BACKGROUND Pyrophosphate (PPi) is a potent inhibitor of vascular calcification and may be deficient in renal failure. We sought to determine whether plasma PPi is affected by dialysis or the mode of dialysis and whether it correlates with vascular calcification. METHODS PPi was measured in plasma samples stored from a recent study of vascular calcification in 54 HD patients, 23 peritoneal dia...

Vascular calcification is highly prevalent in patients with coronary artery disease and, when present, is associated with major adverse cardiovascular events, including an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. The pathogenesis of vascular calcification is complex and is now recognized to recapitulate skeletal bone formation. Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) play an integral role in this...

In the present study, we examined the association between vascular and valvular calcification and the prognosis of patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Data were collected from the records of patients introduced onto CAPD therapy during 1999 - 2006 at the Department of Nephrology, Saitama Medical University. At the start of CAPD, cardiac and vascular echography were use...

Vascular calcification, abnormal mineralization of the vessel wall, is frequently associated with aging, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease. Vascular calcification is a key risk factor for many adverse clinical outcomes, including ischemic cardiac events and subsequent cardiovascular mortality. Vascular calcification was long considered to be a passive degenerative p...

OBJECTIVE Vascular calcification is accelerated by hypertension and also contributes to hypertension; however, it is an enigma why hypertension and vascular calcification are a vicious spiral. The present study elucidates the cross-talk between renin-angiotensin II system and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) system in vascular calcification. APPROACH AND RESULTS Angioten...

BACKGROUND Vascular calcification is a common feature in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD increases serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), a critical mediator of vascular calcification. However, the molecular mechanism by which TNFα promotes CKD-dependent vascular calcification remains obscure. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether TNFα-induced vasc...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine clinical and laboratory correlates of calcification of the coronary arteries (CAs), aorta and mitral and aortic valves in adult subjects with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving hemodialysis. BACKGROUND Vascular calcification is known to be a risk factor for ischemic heart disease in non-uremic individuals. Patients with ESRD experience accelerated vascu...

Vascular calcification is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease. Mechanistic studies highlight the importance of dysregulated mineral metabolism, vascular osteochondrogenic processes, apoptosis, and deficiencies in calcification inhibitors as potential mediators of calcification in renal disease. However, the contribution...

In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Awan and coworkers1 describe the study of 25 homozygous familial hypercholesterolemic (FH) patients aged 5 to 54 years. Eighteen of the patients had aortic calcification scores 1000. The inference of this study is a strong linkage between homozygous FH and premature aortic calcification. Bazan et al2 have recently described th...