A new treatment for kidney disease-associated heart failure?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients frequently suffer from mineral bone disorder, which causes vascular calcification and, eventually, chronic heart failure. Similar to patients with CKD, mice with low levels of the protein klotho (klotho hypomorphic mice) also develop vascular calcification and have shorter life spans compared to normal mice.

In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Florian Lang and colleagues at the University of Tübingen in Germany, found that treatment with the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone reduced vascular calcification in klotho hypomorphic mice and increased their life span.

In a companion Attending Physician article, Darryl Quarles of the University of Tennessee discusses the implications of these findings for the treatment of CKD patients.