Newly Uncovered Clue Explains Kidney Disease's High Risk of Heart Failure

Indian American scientists comment on study findings that diseased kidneys release toxic particles harmful to the heart.

Feb. 1, 2026 at 2:55pm

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Researchers have uncovered a clue that explains why people with chronic kidney disease have such a high risk of heart failure. The study found that diseased kidneys release tiny particles that are toxic to the heart, providing a new understanding of the link between the two common health conditions. The findings could help identify heart disease in kidney patients earlier and influence treatment recommendations.

Why it matters

The relationship between chronic kidney disease and heart conditions is well documented, with studies showing the severity of cardiovascular complications is correlated with the stage of kidney failure. Understanding the mechanisms behind this connection could lead to earlier diagnosis and more targeted treatment for patients at risk.

The details

The researchers collected blood samples from people with varying degrees of kidney disease and healthy subjects. They observed that the blood from sick people contained vesicles carrying a type of noncoding RNA that had a toxic effect on heart tissue. These harmful vesicles were being produced by the damaged kidneys and were not found in blood samples from healthy patients. In lab tests using mice, reducing these extracellular vesicles in the blood led to improved heart function and fewer signs of heart failure even in mice with diseased kidneys.

  • The study findings were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation.

The players

Uta Erdbrügger

An associate professor of medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and co-author of the study.

Susmita Sahoo

The study's senior author and an associate professor of medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Janani Rangaswami

A nephrologist and professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.

Samir Parikh

The president of the American Society of Nephrology.

Joseph Vassalotti

The chief medical officer of the National Kidney Foundation, who was not involved in the study.

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What they’re saying

“We went on a mission to understand this interorgan communication between the kidney and the heart. We found that there are molecules communicating between the kidney and the heart.”

— Uta Erdbrügger, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine

“No one has shown this causal relationship before.”

— Susmita Sahoo, Associate Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

“Heart failure and kidney disease are very, very closely intertwined conditions. Almost 1 in 2 individuals with heart failure will have some degree of kidney dysfunction, and kidney disease is a very powerful risk enhancer for the development of heart failure.”

— Janani Rangaswami, Nephrologist and Professor of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine

“Each step that you lose kidney function is just a greater and greater stress on the heart. The kidney really has this profound influence on the health of the heart in all of its dimensions.”

— Samir Parikh, President, American Society of Nephrology

“These are potential biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. This is all preliminary, and there's a lot of additional work that would need to be done to validate these findings, and to see if they apply diagnostically and therapeutically.”

— Joseph Vassalotti, Chief Medical Officer, National Kidney Foundation

What’s next

Researchers are working on a much larger, longer-term study to track whether people with chronic kidney disease develop heart conditions.

The takeaway

The discovery of how diseased kidneys release toxic particles that harm the heart could lead to earlier identification of heart disease in kidney patients and more targeted treatment approaches, potentially improving outcomes for those with the intertwined conditions.