Inflammation in Renal Disease

Inflammation is a component of the major modifiable risk factors in renal disease. Elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels have been shown to predict all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients dependent on dialysis and to predict worsening renal function in subjects without overt renal disease. Levels of hs-CRP are also predictive of hypertension, a major risk factor for renal disease, across all levels of blood pressure in subjects without initial hypertension. Many of the treatments used in patients with renal disease exert anti-inflammatory activities that constitute or contribute to their therapeutic effects. A number of studies have indicated that statin therapy exerts a renoprotective effect that is possibly mediated by anti-inflammatory activities.