The kidney and heart are closely linked clinically in a bidirectional fashion. Both, detrimental effects of heart disease on the kidney (“cardiodrenal syndrome”) and of kidney disease on the heart (“renocardial syndrome”) have been described. Different mechanisms have been proposed including, Induction of systemic inflammation, sympathetic nervous system stimulation, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation, increased oxidative stress, immunomodulation and mitochondrial fragmentation. However, the exact mechanisms involved are unknown.

We study the kidney-heart axis in animal models of myocardial infarction and acute or chronic kidney injury.