Arteriovenous Fistulae in Chronic Kidney Disease and the Heart: Physiological, Histological, and Transcriptomic Characterization of a Novel Rat Model

Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) are the gold standard for vascular access in those requiring hemodialysis, but may put an extra hemodynamic stress on the cardiovascular system. The complex interactions between the heart, kidney, and AVF remain incompletely understood. In this project, we characterized a novel rat model of 5/6th partial nephrectomy (NX) and AVF. Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data from heart (H) and kidney (K) samples of 3 groups of rats (Sprague-Dawley, 13 weeks old): (1) sham, (2) NX only, and (3) AVF+NX.