Traditional and non-traditional risk factors as contributors to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in end-stage renal disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the main cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although traditional risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and advanced age, are prevalent in ESRD patients they may not be sufficient by themselves to account for the high prevalence of CVD in patients with this condition. Thus, the search for other, non-traditional, risk factors that may be involved in the pathogenesis of uremic CVD has been an area of intense study. Data suggest that the accelerated atherosclerotic process of ESRD may involve several interrelated processes, such as oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and vascular calcification, in a milieu of constant low-grade inflammation. The cause(s) of inflammation in ESRD are multifactorial and, while it may reflect underlying CVD, an acute-phase reaction may also be a direct cause of vascular injury via several pathogenetic mechanisms. Available data suggest that pro-inflammatory cytokines play a central role in the genesis of both malnutrition and CVD in ESRD. Thus, it could be speculated that suppression of the vicious cycle of malnutrition, inflammation and atherosclerosis (MIA syndrome) would improve survival in dialysis patients. Recent evidence has demonstrated strong associations between inflammation and both increased oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction in ESRD patients. As there is not yet any recognized, or even proposed, treatment for ESRD patients with chronic inflammation it would be of obvious interest to study the long-term effect of various anti-inflammatory treatment strategies on the nutritional and cardiovascular status as well as outcome of these patients.