Uremia-induced effects on cardioregulatory mechanisms in the context of the cardiorenal syndrome

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an increased risk to develop cardiovascular disease. One of the major cardiovascular pathologies is uremic cardiomyopathy, which is defined by cardiac remodeling processes with cardiac dysfunction in the presence of CKD. The use of cardiorenal mouse models is a necessary approach to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of kidney-heart interaction in order to identify appropriate therapeutic strategies. Therefore, a comprehensive characterization of different CKD mouse models with subsequent characterization of the heart was performed. By using different mouse strains, CKD induction methods and CKD durations, this study revealed that at least a moderate degree of CKD leads to increased oxidative stress in the hearts of CKD mice, although no cardiac dysfunction or remodeling was detected. This suggests that additional cardiac injury may be required to induce uremic cardiomyopathy, referring to the clinical situation where additional cardiovascular events contribute to the vulnerability of a CKD patient's heart.