Osteopontin as a marker for assessment of vascular atherosclerosis in chronic hemodialysis patients

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease due to accelerated atherosclerosis is the principal cause of morbidity and mortality in End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) population as it accounts for 10–20 times higher than the age and sex matched in general population. Increased risk of atherosclerosis in these patients is due to the overlapping of traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis with CKD-specific factors and dialysis-related factors. Atherosclerosis, a process similar to bone development, whose key link is the transformation from vascular smooth muscle cells to the osteogenesis cells with its function and acquire its ability to synthesize and secrete the osteopontin (OPN) under the condition of the induction as uremia. OPN as a multifunctional protein plays a key role in