Evidence mapPaperPMID 40574608Full record

ReviewEuropean heart journal2025

Medial arterial calcification in ageing and disease: current evidence and knowledge gaps.

Peter Lanzer, Leon Schurgers, Aleksandra Twarda-Clapa, Roberto Ferraresi, Huang Hui, Alexey Kamenskiy, Yabing Chen, Tomoyo Hamana, Pak-Wing Fok, Ángel Millán and 2 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in European heart journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Considerations in the Use of Mouse Models of Vascular and Valvular Calcification.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Peter LanzerMiddle German Heart Centre, Goitzsche Clinic, Friedrich-Ludwig Jahn Strasse 2, D-06749 Bitterfeld, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9945-199X
Leon SchurgersDepartment of Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7867-6957
Aleksandra Twarda-ClapaInstitute of Molecular and Industrial Biotechnology, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland.
Roberto FerraresiDiabetic Foot Unit, Clinica Polispecialistica San Carlo, Milano, Italy.
Huang HuiDepartment of Cardiology, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China.
Alexey KamenskiyDepartment of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA.
Yabing ChenDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
Tomoyo HamanaCVPath Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
Pak-Wing FokDepartment of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Ángel MillánInstitute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón, CSIC-University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Renu VirmaniCVPath Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1879-0015
Cynthia St HilaireDepartments of Medicine, Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Bioengineering, Division of Cardiology and the Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, and Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Funding

Medial Arterial Calcification in Peripheral Artery DiseaseR01HL176595 · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2025 to 2025
$761k
BLRD VA I01 BX004426BLRD VA I01 BX006321BLRD VA IK6 BX005800CSRD VA I01 CX002706NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL176595NHLBI NIH HHS R56 HL168657
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Medial arterial calcification (MAC) characterizes human arterial ageing, potentially remaining clinically silent for decades. However, in susceptible individuals and patients with diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, it becomes a critical risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and it is a significant risk factor for chronic limb-threatening ischaemia and limb amputation. A key biological feature of MAC pathogenesis is the phenotype switching of vascular smooth muscle cells, ultimately responsible for the deposition of hydroxyapatite crystals and the progressive medial layer destruction associated with intimal thickening. The signalling pathways targeting the vascular smooth muscle cells in ageing and disease are partly shared. Due to the MAC-related arterial wall stiffening and intimal thickening, MAC fundamentally alters central and peripheral haemodynamics. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of MAC's impact on haemodynamics is lacking. Ankle-brachial index, ultrasound, and X-ray radiography can detect only advanced MAC in the clinical setting. Due to the slow progression, MAC provides many early detection, prevention, and timely intervention targets. However, no effective pharmacological treatment is currently available to alter its course, and revascularizations remain the only treatment option in symptomatic patients. To prevent, reverse, or delay MAC, further research is needed to reveal the complete picture of molecular pathogenesis and haemodynamic impact of MAC vasculopathy.

Indexed as

AgingVascular CalcificationHumansRisk FactorsTunica MediaChronic kidney diseaseDiabetes mellitusMedial arterial calcificationMedia sclerosis MönckebergVascular ageingVascular geneticsVascular molecular biologyVascular pathology

Identifiers

PMID40574608
PMCPMC13376153

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.