Human Aortic Valve Calcification Is Associated With an Osteoblast Phenotype

Calcific aortic stenosis is the third most common cardiovascular disease in the United States. We hypothesized that the mechanism for aortic valve calcification is similar to skeletal bone formation and that this process is mediated by an osteoblast-like phenotype.To test this hypothesis, we examined calcified human aortic valves replaced at surgery (n=22) and normal human valves (n=20) removed at time of cardiac transplantation. Contact...