Research Awards Recipients

Lay Summary

Patients with kidney failure develop heart failure and stroke as a result of blood vessel stiffening which is caused by the deposition of calcium in blood vessels. This is referred to as calcification of blood vessels or vascular calcification. Dr. Agharazii’s group of research aims to identify why patients with kidney disease develop calcification of blood vessels and propose ways to prevent vascular calcification and improve the quality of life of patients with kidney disease. During their previous studies, they discovered that one of the medications that is frequently used to reduce fluid retention (a water pill or a diuretic), seems to exacerbate vascular calcification. This is very important as most patients with kidney disease take these drugs and this potential side effect had never been described before. To better understand why this happens, they will use an animal model of kidney disease and vascular calcification. In particular, they will examine if the negative effects of these water pills are related to their interaction with a hormone called aldosterone. Indeed, their preliminary results indicate that aldosterone increases with water pills. Using drugs to block aldosterone, they want to examine if they can counteract these negative effects and potentially use these drugs for the treatment of patients.