Chronic kidney diseases may accelerate cognitive decline; effects sex-specific: Study

Kidney diseases: Chronic kidney diseases may accelerate cognitive decline but its manifestation differs in men and women, according to a new study.

The decline is primarily due to damage to the “heart-brain link” triggered by chronic kidney illness, it said.

Studying a rural population in the US, researchers from Marshall University found that men with chronic kidney disease experienced a higher cognitive impairment and a more pronounced reduction in heart function, compared to women.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, suggest a stronger relation between the heart-brain link and cognitive decline among men, the researchers said.

The study also sheds light on why men with chronic kidney diseases often face more severe cognitive effects, and points to potential sex-specific targets for early diagnosis and treatment, they added.

“These results demonstrate that the biological pathways linking the kidney, heart, and brain are distinct in men and women,” lead author Sneha S Pillai, research assistant professor of biomedical sciences at Marshall University’s school of medicine, said.

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The authors wrote, “CKD (Chronic kidney disease) patients have higher blood pressure vs controls (normal), and men with CKD exhibited a decline in cardiac function vs sex and age-matched controls.”

The study looked at a community-dwelling rural population to understand sex-specific communication links of the kidney-heart-brain axis in patients of chronic kidney disease, they said.

“Our findings will broaden the current understanding and clinical consequences of the pathophysiological interactions between kidney and CV (cardiovascular) damage with brain function in a sex-dependent manner that could prompt innovative pharmacological interventions,” the authors wrote.

Lead researcher Komal Sodhi, associate professor of surgery at Marshall University’s school of medicine, said, “This work underscores the urgency of tailored strategies to prevent progression to more serious neurological disorders.”