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REVIEW article

Front. Med.

Sec. Nephrology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1538048

This article is part of the Research Topic Advancement in Kidney Care: Targeted Delivery and Precision Medicine Approaches View all articles

Research progress on the kidney-gut-brain axis in brain dysfunction in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Provisionally accepted
  • Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) has become the primary renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease. The kidney-gut-brain axis represents a communication network connecting the kidney, intestine and brain. In MHD patients, factors such as uremic toxins, hemodynamic changes, vascular damage, inflammation, oxidative stress, and intestinal dysbiosis in MHD patients refers to a range of clinical syndromes, including brain injury, and is manifested by conditions such as white matter disease, brain atrophy, cerebrovascular disease, cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral or consciousness abnormalities. Numerous studies have demonstrated the prevalence of these brain disorders in MHD patients. Understanding the mechanisms of brain disorders in MHD patients, particularly through the lens of kidney-gut-brain axis dysfunction, offers valuable insights for future research and the development of targeted therapies. This article reviews the brain dysfunction associated with MHD, the impact of the kidney-brain axis, intestinal barrier damage, gut microbiota dysbiosis caused by MHD, and the role of the gut-brain axis in brain dysfunction.

    Keywords: end-stage renal disease, Maintenance hemodialysis, Gut Microbiota, Brain dysfunction, Intestinal Mucosal Barrier

    Received: 02 Dec 2024; Accepted: 14 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Li, Zhu, Shen and Miao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Liying Miao, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, 213003, Jiangsu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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