Title:The Innate Immune System and Cardiovascular Disease in ESKD: Monocytes and Natural Killer Cells
Volume: 19
Issue: 1
Author(s): Evangelia Dounousi*, Anila Duni, Katerina K. Naka, Georgios Vartholomatos and Carmine Zoccali
Affiliation:
- Department of Nephrology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina,Greece
Keywords:
Proinflammatory monocytes, natural killer cells, natural killer T cells, end-stage kidney disease, atherosclerosis,
heart failure.
Abstract: Adverse innate immune responses have been implicated in several disease processes, including
cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The monocyte subsets natural
killer (NK) cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells are involved in innate immunity. Monocytes subsets
are key in atherogenesis and the inflammatory cascade occurring in heart failure. Upregulated activity
and counts of proinflammatory CD16+ monocyte subsets are associated with clinical indices of atherosclerosis,
heart failure syndromes and CKD. Advanced CKD is a complex state of persistent systemic
inflammation characterized by elevated expression of proinflammatory and pro-atherogenic
CD14++CD16+ monocytes, which are associated with cardiovascular events and death both in the general
population and among patients with CKD. Diminished NK cells and NKT cells counts and aberrant
activity are observed in both coronary artery disease and end-stage kidney disease. However, evidence
of the roles of NK cells and NKT cells in atherogenesis in advanced CKD is circumstantial and remains
to be clarified. This review describes the available evidence regarding the roles of specific immune cell
subsets in the pathogenesis of CVD in patients with CKD. Future research is expected to further uncover
the links between CKD associated innate immune system dysregulation and accelerated CVD and
will ideally be translated into therapeutic targets.