Cardiovascular Risk in Chronic Kidney Disease: Role of the Sympathetic Nervous System

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jeanie Park, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-06-24
• Publisher: Hindawi Publishing Corporation
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2012 Jeanie Park
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.hindawi.com/journals/crp/2012/319432/
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Cardiology Research and Practice
• ISSN: 2090-8016
• Volume: 2012
• Issue: 2012
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 8
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Decatur, GA; the Atlanta Research and Education Foundation; NIH grant K23 HL098744; the Amgen Nephrology Junior Faculty Award.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, General; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Patients with chronic kidney disease are at significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death. One mechanism underlying increased cardiovascular risk in patients with renal failure includes overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Multiple human and animal studies have shown that central sympathetic outflow is chronically elevated in patients with both end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). SNS overactivation, in turn, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and sudden death by increasing arterial blood pressure, arrythmogenicity, left ventricular hypertrophy, and coronary vasoconstriction and contributes to the progression renal disease. This paper will examine the evidence for SNS overactivation in renal failure from both human and experimental studies and discuss mechanisms of SNS overactivity in CKD and therapeutic implications.