Kidneys, hearts, hormones and immunomodulators: integrated understandings.

The biological processes governing vascular endothelial cell health are complex and highly redundant. The mechanisms involved in cell injury and repair remain an area of intense study. This paper attempts to review current knowledge regarding hormones such as vitamin D, erythropoietin and aldosterone within the context of what we understand of the inflammatory cascade. This is not a comprehensive review of vascular biology, and many important details and background information have been omitted due to space and complexity considerations. The integration of exocrine and endocrine functions within the kidney, the intimate relationship of those functions with vascular health, and the clinical observations of high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease warrant a better understanding of this area by clinicians and basic researchers. Copyright 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.