Indoxyl Sulfate and p-Cresyl Sulfate Promote Vascular Calcification and Associate with Glucose Intolerance.

BACKGROUND: Protein-bound uremic toxins indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresyl sulfate (PCS) have been associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with CKD. However, direct evidence for a role of these toxins in CKD-related vascular calcification has not been reported. METHODS: To study early and late vascular alterations by toxin exposure, we exposed CKD rats to vehicle, IS (150 mg/kg per day), or PCS (150 mg/kg per day) for either 4 days (short-term exposure) or 7 weeks (long-term exposure). We also performed unbiased proteomic analyses of arterial samples coupled to functional bioinformatic annotation analyses to investigate molecular signaling events associated with toxin-mediated arterial calcification. RESULTS: Long-term exposure to either toxin at serum levels similar to those experienced by patients with CKD significantly increased calcification in the aorta and peripheral arteries. Our analyses revealed an association between calcification events, acute-phase response signaling, and coagulation and glucometabolic signaling pathways, whereas escape from toxin-induced calcification was linked with liver X receptors and farnesoid X/liver X receptor signaling pathways. Additional metabolic linkage to these pathways revealed that IS and PCS exposure engendered a prodiabetic state evidenced by elevated resting glucose and reduced GLUT1 expression. Short-term exposure to IS and PCS (before calcification had been established) showed activation of inflammation and coagulation signaling pathways in the aorta, demonstrating that these signaling pathways are causally implicated in toxin-induced arterial calcification. CONCLUSIONS: In CKD, both IS and PCS directly promote vascular calcification via activation of inflammation and coagulation pathways and were strongly associated with impaired glucose homeostasis.

Differences in gastrointestinal calcium absorption after the ingestion of calcium-free phosphate binders.

Both calcium-containing and noncalcium-containing phosphate binders can increase gastrointestinal calcium absorption. Previously, we observed that lanthanum carbonate administration to rats with renal failure is not associated with increased calciuria. Additionally, lanthanum carbonate treatment in dialysis patients has been associated with a less pronounced initial decrease in serum parathyroid hormone compared with other phosphate binders. For 8 days, male Wistar rats received a diet supplemented with 2% lanthanum carbonate, 2% sevelamer, 2% calcium carbonate, or 2% cellulose. Calciuria was found to be increased in animals with normal renal function treated with sevelamer or calcium carbonate but not with lanthanum carbonate. In animals with renal failure, cumulative calcium excretion showed similar results. In rats with normal renal function, serum ionized calcium levels were increased after 2 days of treatment with sevelamer, while calcium carbonate showed a smaller increase. Lanthanum carbonate did not induce differences. In animals with renal failure, no differences were found between sevelamer-treated, calcium carbonate-treated, and control groups. Lanthanum carbonate, however, induced lower ionized calcium levels within 2 days of treatment. These results were confirmed in normal human volunteers, who showed lower net calcium absorption after a single dose of lanthanum carbonate compared with sevelamer carbonate. In conclusion, these two noncalcium-containing phosphate-binding agents showed a differential effect on gastrointestinal calcium absorption. These findings may help to improve the management of calcium balance in patients with renal failure, including concomitant use of vitamin D.

Effects of efficient phosphate binding on bone in chronic renal failure rats.

BACKGROUND: We recently reported that administration of high doses of lanthanum carbonate (1000 mg/kg/day) to chronic renal failure (CRF) rats can result in a mineralization defect. Our results suggested, however, that the impaired mineralization was not due to a direct toxic action of lanthanum on the bone, but rather was an indirect consequence of a phosphate depletion resulting from the compound's high phosphate-binding capacity. To further substantiate these results, in the present study, the effects of lanthanum carbonate on bone were compared to the effects of sevelamer, a nonabsorbed, non-metal-containing polymeric phosphate-binding agent. METHODS: Male Wistar rats underwent a 5/6th nephrectomy to induce chronic renal failure, after which they were treated with either sevelamer (500 or 1000 mg/kg/day) or lanthanum carbonate (1000 mg/kg/day) by oral gavage for 12 weeks. RESULTS: CRF animals treated with either sevelamer (500 or 1000 mg/kg/day) or lanthanum carbonate (1000 mg/kg/day) developed a phosphate depletion after 4 weeks of treatment, as evidenced by a marked reduction in phosphaturia. At sacrifice after 12 weeks of treatment, bone histomorphometry showed that a mineralization defect had developed in two out of six animals in the lanthanum-carbonate-treated group, in four out of seven animals in the 1000 mg/kg/ day sevelamer group, and in one out of nine animals in the 500 mg/kg/day sevelamer group. CONCLUSIONS: These results corroborate our previous findings that the administration of a powerful phosphate-binding agent to CRF rats can induce phosphate depletion, resulting in a mineralization defect.