Current and potential therapeutic strategies for the management of vascular calcification in patients with chronic kidney disease including those on dialysis.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to explore the role of calcium in vascular calcification (VC) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and evaluate current and potential treatment strategies.
Results Summary
The study highlights that derangements in calcium and phosphate metabolic pathways contribute to VC in CKD patients, but conventional approaches like dietary phosphate restriction and phosphate binders remain controversial due to unclear clinical relevance. Novel therapies, including magnesium and vitamin K supplementation, are under investigation.
Population
Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experiencing vascular calcification.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
management of traditional cardiovascular risk factors | no change | mortality | patients with CKD | no significant change | may be influential but has not been shown to significantly improve | #1 |
control of mineral metabolism | decrease | burden of VC | patients with CKD | - | may potentially reduce | #2 |
conventional approaches of restricting dietary phosphate, administering phosphate binders, and use of active vitamin D and calcimimetics | neutral | control of mineral metabolism | patients with CKD | - | remains controversial | #3 |
increasing time on dialysis | decrease | VC | patients with CKD | - | perhaps another therapy with potential effectiveness | #4 |
magnesium and vitamin K supplementation | neutral | VC | patients with CKD | - | currently being investigated | #5 |
crystallization inhibitors | neutral | VC | patients with CKD | - | therapeutic targets | #6 |
ligand trap for activin receptors | neutral | VC | patients with CKD | - | therapeutic targets | #7 |
BMP-7 | neutral | VC | patients with CKD | - | therapeutic targets | #8 |
Patients with CKD have accelerated vascular stiffening contributing significantly to excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Much of the arterial stiffening is thought to involve vascular calcification (VC), but the pathogenesis of this phenomenon is complex, resulting from a disruption of the balance between promoters and inhibitors of calcification in a uremic milieu, along with derangements in calcium and phosphate metabolic pathways. Management of traditional cardiovascular risk factors to reduce VC may be influential but has not been shown to significantly improve mortality. Control of mineral metabolism may potentially reduce the burden of VC, although using conventional approaches of restricting dietary phosphate, administering phosphate binders, and use of active vitamin D and calcimimetics, remains controversial because recommended biochemical targets are hard to achieve and clinical relevance hard to define. Increasing time on dialysis is perhaps another therapy with potential effectiveness in this area. Despite current treatments, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality remain high in this group. Novel therapies for addressing VC include magnesium and vitamin K supplementation, which are currently being investigated in large randomized control trials. Other therapeutic targets include crystallization inhibitors, ligand trap for activin receptors and BMP-7. This review summarizes current treatment strategies and therapeutic targets for the future management of VC in patients with CKD.