Fosca Quarti-Trevano1, Gino Seravalle1, Raffaella Dell'Oro1, Giuseppe Mancia2, Guido Grassi3. 1. Clinica Medica, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University Milano-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20052, Monza, Italy. 2. Policlinico di Monza and University Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. 3. Clinica Medica, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University Milano-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20052, Monza, Italy. guido.grassi@unimib.it.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the results of studies of the effects of dialysis and kidney transplantation on the autonomic nervous system alterations that occur in chronic kidney disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Vagal control of the heart mediated by arterial baroreceptors is altered early in the course of the renal disease. Sympathetic activation occurs, with increases in resting heart rate, venous plasma norepinephrine levels, muscle sympathetic nerve traffic, and other indirect indices of adrenergic drive. The magnitude of the changes reflects the clinical severity of the kidney disease. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic alterations have a reflex origin, depending on the impairment in baroreflex and cardiopulmonary reflex control of the cardiovascular system. These alterations are partially reversed during acute hemodialysis, but the responses are variable depending on the specific type of dialytic treatment that is employed. Renal transplantation improves reflex cardiovascular control, resulting in sympathoinhibition following renal transplantation if the native kidneys are removed. Sympathoinhibitory effects have been also reported in renal failure patients after bilateral renal denervation. Assessment of autonomic nervous system responses to dialysis and renal transplantation provides information of clinical interest, given the evidence that autonomic alterations are involved in the development and progression of cardiovascular complications, as well as in the prognosis of chronic kidney disease.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the results of studies of the effects of dialysis and kidney transplantation on the autonomic nervous system alterations that occur in chronic kidney disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Vagal control of the heart mediated by arterial baroreceptors is altered early in the course of the renal disease. Sympathetic activation occurs, with increases in resting heart rate, venous plasma norepinephrine levels, muscle sympathetic nerve traffic, and other indirect indices of adrenergic drive. The magnitude of the changes reflects the clinical severity of the kidney disease. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic alterations have a reflex origin, depending on the impairment in baroreflex and cardiopulmonary reflex control of the cardiovascular system. These alterations are partially reversed during acute hemodialysis, but the responses are variable depending on the specific type of dialytic treatment that is employed. Renal transplantation improves reflex cardiovascular control, resulting in sympathoinhibition following renal transplantation if the native kidneys are removed. Sympathoinhibitory effects have been also reported in renal failurepatients after bilateral renal denervation. Assessment of autonomic nervous system responses to dialysis and renal transplantation provides information of clinical interest, given the evidence that autonomic alterations are involved in the development and progression of cardiovascular complications, as well as in the prognosis of chronic kidney disease.
Authors: Guido Grassi; Gino Seravalle; Lorenzo Ghiadoni; Giovanni Tripepi; Rosa Maria Bruno; Giuseppe Mancia; Carmine Zoccali Journal: Clin J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2011-09-22 Impact factor: 8.237
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