Vitamin K deficiency: an emerging player in the pathogenesis of vascular calcification and an iatrogenic consequence of therapies in advanced renal disease.

Vascular calcification is a known complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The prevalence of vascular calcification in patients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD stages 3-5 has been shown to be as high as 79% (20). Vascular calcification has been associated with increased risk for mortality, hospital admissions, and cardiovascular disease (6, 20, 50, 55).

Acid Base Balance and Progression of Kidney Disease.

A large body of work in animals and human beings supports the hypothesis that metabolic acidosis has a deleterious effect on the progression of kidney disease. Alkali therapy, whether pharmacologically or through dietary intervention, appears to slow CKD progression, but an appropriately powered randomized controlled trial with a low risk of bias is required to reach a more definitive conclusion. Recent work on urinary ammonium excretion has shown that the development of prognostic tools related to acidosis is not straightforward, and that application of urine markers such as ammonium may require more nuance than would be predicted based on our understanding of the pathophysiology.