Background: Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiac events and mortality in patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). Moreover, the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) development in patients with CKD increases as kidney function declines. Although the close connection between atherosclerosis and kidney dysfunction is undeniable, particular risk factors and specific mechanisms that promote CVD in patients with CKD remain unclear. To gain insight into better recognition of the mechanisms of accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with CKD, we performed a comparative proteomic analysis of blood plasma from patients in various stages of CKD and thus distinct progression of atherosclerosis (n = 90), patients with advanced CVD and normal renal function (n = 30) and healthy volunteers (n = 30).
Methods: Plasma samples were depleted using affinity chromatography and divided into three fractions: high-abundant, low-abundant and low-molecular weight proteins. The first two fractions were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, the last one has been subjected to direct MS/MS analysis. A proteomic profiles for high-abundant, low-abundant and low-molecular weight proteins fractions were obtained. Differential accumulated proteins were confirmed by selected reaction monitoring analysis (SRM). The Gene Ontology (GO) function and the interaction networks of differentially expressed proteins were then analyzed.
Results: Forty-nine proteins (13 high- and 36 low-molecular mass) showed differences in accumulation levels. For eleven of them differential expression were confirmed by selected reaction monitoring analysis. Bioinformatic analysis showed that identified differential proteins were related to three different processes: the blood coagulation cascade, the transport, binding and metabolism of lipoproteins and inflammatory processes.
Conclusions: Obtained data provide an additional line of evidence that different molecular mechanisms are involved in the development of CKD- and CVD-related atherosclerosis. The abundance of some anti-atherogenic factors revealed in patients with CKD suggests that these factors are not associated with the reduction of atherosclerosis progression in CKD that is typically observed in "classical" CVD. Moreover, obtained data also suggest that mechanism of CVD acceleration may be different in initial and advanced stages of CKD. Undoubtedly, in advanced stages of CKD inflammation is highly pronounced.