Whole genome transcriptomics of pre-access veins and hemodialysis arteriovenous fistula (AVF) samples from two-stage AVF patients with different maturation outcomes (matured vs. failed)

We report the RNA expression profiles of native veins used for AVF creation and of remodeled AVF samples obtained 6-15 weeks later at the time of transposition (if vein matured) or salvage procedure (if vein failed). We perfomed RNA-seq on native veins and AVFs with different maturation outcomes (matured vs. failed). The "matured" and "failed" subgroups were similar in terms of demographics (age range, sex distribution, ethnicity distribution), clinical characteristics (proportion of diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease, previous hemodialysis access history), and time interval between first-stage and second-stage surgeries. We uncovered a battery of pro-inflammatory genes upregulated in native veins that failed compared to those that matured. Overall design: This case-control study was designed to 1) identify differentially expressed genes in native veins that matured or failed after AVF creation, 2) find differentially expressed genes in remodeled AVFs with distinct maturation outcomes, and 3) evaluate longitudinal changes in gene expression during the vein to AVF transformation.