Renal Oxygenation and its Determinants in Chronic Kidney Disease

The thesis examines renal hypoxia and its role in the pathophysiology of CKD. The thesis identifies that renal tissue hypoxia is a common characteristic of CKD. The major drivers of this hypoxia probably differ depending on the etiology of the CKD. For example, fibrosis may be a critical event in driving hypoxia in adenine-induced-CKD while hyperfiltration may be a critical early event that drives hypoxia in diabetic CKD. The fact that renal dysfunction can be detected in adenine induced-CKD before renal hypoxia does not support the idea that renal hypoxia is an absolute requirement for progression of CKD. Thus, perhaps hypoxia might sometimes be a cause, sometimes a consequence, and sometimes both a cause and consequence, of CKD.