Lara Zeper successfully defended her thesis entitled ‘Clearing up calciprotein particles in chronic kidney disease’.
Outline of this thesis
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with cardiovascular events and mortality. Vascular calcification induced by disturbed mineral metabolism contributes to cardiovascular disease in CKD patients. Blood phosphate and calcium levels are tightly regulated through regulation of intestinal absorption and renal excretion. However, impaired hormone balance and reduced renal function in CKD patients lead to reduced renal excretion of phosphate and consequently to hyperphosphatemia. These high phosphate levels in the blood are associated with vascular calcification and an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in both CKD patients and healthy subjects. CKD patients predominantly have medial calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), leading to arterial stiffness. Consequently, heart failure and cardiovascular events become more prevalent in CKD patients, increasing their risk on cardiovascular mortality. In thesis thesis, we examined the role of calciprotein particles (CPP) in this process.
Biography
Lara Zeper (1993) obtained her master’s degree in Nutrition and Health in 2017 from the Wageningen University. She conducted her doctoral research at the Department of Physiology, Radboudumc, as part of the NIGRAM2+ consortium funded by Health Holland and the Dutch Kidney Foundation. During her PhD Lara presented her work at international meetings of the Dutch Federation of Nephrology (NFN), Dutch Physiological Association and the European Calcified Tissue Society.
Kidney Physiology 