Inflammation and Arterial Stiffness as Drivers of Cardiovascular Risk in Kidney Disease

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an increased cardiovascular (CV) risk. The lower the glomerular filtration rate, the higher the CV risk. Summary: Current data suggest that several uremic toxins lead to vascular inflammation and oxidative stress that, in turn, lead to endothelial dysfunction, changes in smooth muscle cells' phenotype, and increased degradation of elastin and collagen fibres. These processes lead to both functional and structural arterial stiffening and explain part of the increased risk of acute myocardial infarction and stroke reported in patients with CKD. Considering that, at least in patients with end-stage kidney disease, the reduction of arterial stiffness is associated with a parallel decrease of the CV risk, vascular function is a potential target for therapy to reduce the CV risk. Key messages: in this review, we explore mechanisms of vascular dysfunction in CKD, paying particular attention to inflammation, reporting current data in other models of mild and severe inflammation, and discussing the vascular effect of several drugs currently used in nephrology.