DALLAS – Feb. 17, 2011 – Low levels of the anti-aging hormone Klotho may serve as an early warning sign of the presence of kidney disease and its deadly cardiovascular complications, according to findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers. Using mice, investigators found that soft-tissue calcification, a common and serious side effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD), improves when Klotho hormone levels are restored. The study is available online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The essential Klotho protein, which is produced by the kidneys, often plummets in CKD. This may explain why supplementing Klotho levels...