RESEARCHERS from the University of Western Australia have found kidney disease patients are at risk of developing heart disease.

The study, published in the December 2009 edition of the Journal of Lipid Research, identified kidney disease patients had an elevated risk of developing heart disease, due to high blood fat concentrations.

Lead researcher, Dr Doris Chan from UWA’s School of Medicine and Pharmacology, Royal Perth Hospital Unit, says the study involved taking a sample of 10 kidney disease patients, examining their blood fat metabolism and comparing the patients to 20 controls.

Controls were matched to the kidney disease patients for their age, gender and insulin resistance, among other things, to limit other factors that could have played a role in blood fat abnormalities.

A tracer that attaches to fat carrying proteins (apolipoproteins) in the body’s circulation system was injected into the ten kidney disease patients.

The tracer allowed researchers to monitor the production and breakdown of the apolipoproteins like apolipoprotein B, which is the primary apolipoprotein of bad cholesterol.

“As this tracer follows your blood fat, it allows you to calculate how quickly things are being made and broken down," Dr Chan says.

According to Dr Chan, the study identified a defect in kidney disease patients’ ability to breakdown apolipoprotein B, without increasing its production, leading to increased blood fat concentration.

Researchers are currently examining how all apolipoproteins are being broken down and produced to find out whether they are the main drivers of the abnormalities seen in the blood tests, she said.

According to Dr Chan, a better understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to blood fat metabolism will eventually enable researchers to design targeted treatments, potentially reducing the risk of people with kidney diseases developing heart disease.

Dr Chan says she is aware that there have been similar smaller studies that have involved looking at kidney disease patients and their blood fat metabolism.

“However, we are probably the first to produce this data and detail analysis of blood fats.

“There is ongoing research in this area and we are probably one of the very few centres that conduct this kind of research in the world.

“The principal driver of this study is world-known lipidologist Professor Gerald Watts from UWA.”

Dr Chan says Prof Watts has been a main force in the field of lipid research world-wide.

Readers can access the findings published in the Journal of Lipid Research online