Fetuin-A protects against atherosclerotic calcification in CKD.

ABSTRACT: Reduced serum levels of the calcification inhibitor fetuin-A associate with increased cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. Fetuin-A-deficient mice display calcification of various tissues but notably not of the vasculature. This absence of vascular calcification may result from the protection of an intact endothelium, which becomes severely compromised in the setting of atherosclerosis. To test this hypothesis, we generated fetuin-A/apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient mice and compared them with ApoE-deficient and wild-type mice with regard to atheroma formation and extraosseous calcification. We assigned mice to three treatment groups for 9 wk: (1) Standard diet, (2) high-phosphate diet, or (3) unilateral nephrectomy (causing chronic kidney disease [CKD]) plus high-phosphate diet.

SUBMITTER: Westenfeld R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2689898 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature