Commentary
Kidney International (2006) 69, 952–953. doi:10.1038/sj.ki.5000236
Kidney failure and the gut: p-cresol and the dangers from within
M Ketteler1
1Department of Nephrology, University Hospital of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Correspondence: M Ketteler, Medizinische Klinik II: Nephrologie und klinische Immunologie, Universitätsklinikum der RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52057 Aachen, Germany. E-mail: mketteler@ukaachen.de
Abstract
Previously, uremic toxins were sometimes regarded as a large, mysterious, but also anonymous group of factors potentially contributing to morbidity and mortality in end-stage renal disease. By identifying the protein-bound solute p-cresol as a risk factor for mortality in dialysis patients, Bammens and colleagues for the first time present evidence of a clinically relevant uremic toxin in relation to clinical outcome.
