Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms Involved in the Pathogenesis of Cardiorenal Cross Talk

The term 'cardiorenal syndrome' (CRS) encloses a scenario of clinical interactions in which cardiac and renal dysfunctions coexist. The cross talk between the heart and the kidney is clearly evidenced but not fully understood. Indeed, different factors have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of CRS, such as systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis and immune dysregulation. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to the role of new alternative mechanisms which may be implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiorenal cross talk. In this review, we will focus on epigenetics, prenatal programming, small noncoding RNAs and extracellular vesicles, aiming to elucidate their possible role in heart and kidney diseases. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel