A troubled mind troubles the kidney: a brain-to-kidney axis?

Article information

Kidney Res Clin Pract. 2022;41(6):637-639
Publication date (electronic) : 2022 November 30
doi : https://doi.org/10.23876/j.krcp.22.234
1Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
2Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
3Brain Korea 21 FOUR Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Correspondence: Eosu Kim Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea. E-mail: eosu.kim@yonsei.ac.kr
Received 2022 October 18; Accepted 2022 October 18.

Dementia and depression are among the so-called 3Ds (dementia, depression, and delirium), which are most frequently encountered in geriatric psychiatry [1]. A recent report by Kang et al. [2] has shown that older adults (aged >60 years) with Alzheimer dementia (AD) or depression have increased risk of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) by 67% and 44%, respectively [2]. These figures seem to go beyond the common expectation that aging-associated illnesses are more likely to coexist.

It is recognizable that impaired renal function can increase the risk to brain health in various ways. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been associated with increased risk of depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline [3]. However, the opposite relationship has not been studied well. A recent study of Kang et al. [2] highlights the topic by supporting the existence of a brain-to-kidney axis [4]. This concept has been proposed based on findings that acute brain injuries from trauma or ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke coincide with acute kidney injury [5]. However, it is unknown which factors could be involved in such long-term crosstalk between depression, dementia, and ESKD. First, any factors that mediate brain and kidney function could mediate the relationship bidirectionally (Fig. 1A). For instance, humoral factors such as proinflammatory cytokines can arise from pathological conditions of either of the two organs and affect the other. Indeed, depression and AD have long been associated with systemic as well as neuronal inflammation [6,7]. Second, metabolic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia may contribute to the link since they cause vascular dysfunction (Fig. 1B); not only vascular dementia but also AD have been related to vascular pathology. Vascular dysfunction has also been regarded as an important depressogenic factor, especially in elderly depression, which prompted the term, ‘vascular depression’ [8]. The brain and kidney share a common feature of microvasculature, function of which is crucial to their normal operation. This common microvascular pathogenesis might have influenced the brain first (inducing depression or dementia) and then the kidney, resulting in ESKD as a final step. As well as vasculopathy, several adipokines (adiponectin, leptin, and clusterin) and myokines (irisin) could mediate or moderate the relationship between metabolic disease and AD [911]. These proteins might have the potential to convey or implicate dysfunctions in the kidney as well. Third, attention should be paid to a recent conceptualization of ‘brain-gut-kidney axis’ (Fig. 1C). This may be an extended concept based on the above-mentioned pathways between the brain and kidney, suggesting that the gut microbiome can affect both the brain and kidney through metabolic, immune, and autonomic nervous systems [12,13].

Figure 1.

Proposed model for a brain-kidney axis.

(A) Factors initiated by the brain can affect the kidney and vice versa. For instance, circulating cytokines associated with neuroinflammation can damage the kidney. (B) Common factors may influence both organs but do so sequentially. Hypertension, diabetes, and other metabolic/vascular risk factors may affect the brain first, causing depression or dementia, and then the kidney. (C) The brain-gut-kidney axis [13] involves inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and sympathetic activation as mediators of brain-kidney crosstalk, and gut microbiota are highly involved in this interplay.

Future study efforts should aim to elucidate clinical and therapeutic implications of the brain-kidney axis. First, as mentioned above, gut microbiota could be added as a key potential mediator between brain and kidney functions. Second, the long-term influence of antidementics or antidepressants on kidney function should be reexamined. Third, a prospective study should identify metabolic, immune, or microbiotic factors, which are commonly found in patients who have simultaneous depression/dementia and ESKD/CKD compared to those who have only one. Such studies will provide valuable information on a promising target of intervention with which renal function may be protected in elderly patients with depression or dementia. Given the high prevalence of these conditions in old age, the impact of such intervention would be not insignificant, as suggested by Kang et al. [2].

Notes

Conflict of interest

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.

Funding

None.

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization, Project administration, Supervision, Visualization: EK

Validation: KYK

Writing–original draft: KYK, EK

Writing–review & editing: KYK, EK

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

References

1. Dharia S, Verilla K, Breden EL. The 3 D's of geriatric psychiatry: depression, delirium, and dementia. Consult Pharm 2011;26:566–578.
2. Kang SC, Koh HB, Kim HW, et al. Associations among Alzheimer disease, depressive disorder, and risk of end-stage kidney disease in elderly people. Kidney Res Clin Pract 2022;41:753–763.
3. Miranda AS, Cordeiro TM, Dos Santos Lacerda Soares TM, Ferreira RN, Simões E Silva AC. Kidney-brain axis inflammatory cross-talk: from bench to bedside. Clin Sci (Lond) 2017;131:1093–1105.
4. Nongnuch A, Panorchan K, Davenport A. Brain-kidney crosstalk. Crit Care 2014;18:225.
5. Ramírez-Guerrero G, Baghetti-Hernández R, Ronco C. Acute kidney injury at the neurocritical care unit. Neurocrit Care 2022;36:640–649.
6. Miller AH, Raison CL. The role of inflammation in depression: from evolutionary imperative to modern treatment target. Nat Rev Immunol 2016;16:22–34.
7. Heppner FL, Ransohoff RM, Becher B. Immune attack: the role of inflammation in Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Neurosci 2015;16:358–372.
8. Taylor WD, Aizenstein HJ, Alexopoulos GS. The vascular depression hypothesis: mechanisms linking vascular disease with depression. Mol Psychiatry 2013;18:963–974.
9. Ha J, Kwak S, Kim KY, et al. Relationship between adipokines, cognition, and brain structures in old age depending on obesity. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2022;Feb. 8. [Epub]. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glac021.
10. Ha J, Moon MK, Kim H, et al. Plasma clusterin as a potential link between diabetes and Alzheimer disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2020;105:dgaa378.
11. Kim KY, Kwak S, Ha J, et al. Loss of association between plasma irisin levels and cognition in Alzheimer’s disease. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022;136:105624.
12. Cosola C, Rocchetti MT, Sabatino A, Fiaccadori E, Di Iorio BR, Gesualdo L. Microbiota issue in CKD: how promising are gut-targeted approaches? J Nephrol 2019;32:27–37.
13. Yang T, Richards EM, Pepine CJ, Raizada MK. The gut microbiota and the brain-gut-kidney axis in hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Nat Rev Nephrol 2018;14:442–456.

Article information Continued

Figure 1.

Proposed model for a brain-kidney axis.

(A) Factors initiated by the brain can affect the kidney and vice versa. For instance, circulating cytokines associated with neuroinflammation can damage the kidney. (B) Common factors may influence both organs but do so sequentially. Hypertension, diabetes, and other metabolic/vascular risk factors may affect the brain first, causing depression or dementia, and then the kidney. (C) The brain-gut-kidney axis [13] involves inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and sympathetic activation as mediators of brain-kidney crosstalk, and gut microbiota are highly involved in this interplay.