Why people on dialysis are likelier to have heart attack

Scientists in Japan have discovered why patients, who are suffering from advanced kidney disease, and undergoing hemodialysis are at high risk to heart attacks and other cardiovascular complications.

New research findings show that uremic toxins, which are not removed by hemodialysis, increase heart attack risk.

The same scientists also found what reduces this risk: an oral adsorbent called "AST-120."

Masayuki Yoshida, M.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Life Science and Bioethics Research Center at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Tokyo, Japan, said "treatment with AST-120, an oral adsorbent, will not only delay the progression of kidney disease, but may also prevent future heart attack.

For the research, scientists used two groups of mice with kidney failure.

The first group received AST-120 and the second group did not. When monocytes taken from both sets of mice were subjected to flow cytometry, Mac-1 expression and oxidative stress was reduced in the group with AST-120.

The research findings have been published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.