Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic Disease: From Fundamental Biology to Clinical Translation

This is a Research Topic initiated by NAVBO, the North American Vascular Biology Organization. Our goal is to identify the next frontiers in atherosclerosis research and to drive the development of innovative clinical approaches.

Cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disease lies at the intersection of cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic disorders, representing an increasingly recognized global health challenge. These interconnected conditions share overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms—chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, mitochondrial dysfunction, endothelial injury, fibrosis, and metabolic remodeling—that drive organ crosstalk and mutual deterioration. Recent advances have deepened our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of CKM disease, revealing how neurohormonal activation, immune dysregulation, and metabolic stress converge to sustain maladaptive signaling across organs. Despite breakthroughs such as SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, and novel MRAs, substantial gaps remain in uncovering early biomarkers, explaining disease heterogeneity, and understanding sex-, age-, and ethnicity-specific susceptibilities. The newly defined CKM syndrome highlights an urgent need for integrating basic, translational, and clinical perspectives to reimagine prevention and treatment across this disease continuum.

This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive platform for the discovery, integration, and translation of knowledge in cardio-kidney-metabolic disease. By bringing together molecular biology, systems medicine, epidemiology, and clinical research, it seeks to unravel shared mechanisms linking the cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic axes. The goal is to identify actionable biomarkers, refine predictive risk models, delineate therapeutic responsiveness, and promote personalized strategies that mitigate residual risk and improve long-term outcomes. Specific questions include how multiorgan interactions drive progression, how metabolic and immune signals intersect to affect cardiac and renal remodeling, and how emerging therapies modulate system-wide homeostasis. By encouraging cross-disciplinary collaborations, this Research Topic will help translate mechanistic insights into actionable precision medicine for CKM disease.

To gather further insights into the mechanisms, biomarkers, and clinical management of cardio-kidney-metabolic disease, we welcome studies spanning fundamental, translational, and clinical research. This Research Topic will focus on investigations that integrate multidimensional approaches to unravel organ communication and guide targeted interventions. We welcome submissions related, but not limited, to the following themes:

• Molecular mechanisms and interorgan communication in CKM disease

• Mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and metabolic remodeling

• Inflammation, immune-metabolic regulation, and tissue repair

• Gut microbiota, extracellular vesicles, and metabolite-mediated signaling

• Omics-driven insights into fibrosis, vascular injury, and metabolic remodeling

• Biomarkers, imaging, and early predictive tools for CKM risk

• Aging, sex differences, and health disparities in CKM pathophysiology

• Artificial intelligence, digital health, and precision risk modeling

• Translational models and drug development for emerging CKM therapeutics

• Lifestyle intervention, multidisciplinary management, and implementation science

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: cardio-kidney-metabolic disease, interorgan communication, metabolic remodeling, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, precision medicine, translational cardiometabolic research, NAVBO

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.