Equol Supplementation for Improving Vascular Function in Postmenopausal Women With CKD
University of Colorado, Denver
Summary
The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is significantly elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Notably, women with CKD commonly experience menstrual disturbances induced by CKD, which may contribute to impaired vascular function and elevated CVD risk. However, most of the literature in nephrology focuses on male patients, and studies on women's vascular health are limited. Establishing effective therapies for improving vascular function and reducing CVD risk in women with CKD is a high research priority of the NIH. Equol contributes to improvement in vascular function, mediated in part by its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. However, there is no information on the effect of equol on vascular function in women with CKD. The proposed project aims to determine the effect of 12 weeks of oral equol supplementation on vascular function in postmenopausal women with CKD.
Description
Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Indeed, CVD is the leading cause of death in these patients. A primary reason why CKD so greatly exacerbates CVD risk is that CKD accelerates vascular dysfunction, including endothelial dysfunction (i.e., reduced brachial artery flow-mediated dilation \[FMDBA\]) and increased arterial stiffness (i.e., reduced compliance of the large-elastic arteries such as carotid artery), mediated in part by oxidative stress and inflammation that subsequently reduce the bioavailability of nitric oxid…