Special Cell Key to Treating Kidney Failure

Kidney failure is a series of disorders which unfortunately appears more and more often in patients. Now experts believe they may have found away to mitigate its effects.

Scientists say that one of the main reasons why kidneys today fail more than they dis in the past is because more and more people are suffering from diabetes.

The condition is especially prevalent in the United States and other developed countries, where it has been strongly associated with the sweeping obesity epidemic.

As people develop this trifecta of diseases – obesity, diabetes, heart problems – one of the main consequences is that their kidneys begin to fail, due to the enormous pressure exerted on them.

The only solution for people suffering from these condition is to start dialysis, or put their names on a list for kidney transplant.

But now researchers looking to understand kidney failure better determined that a type of cell known as podocytes could play a critical role in underlying this series of conditions.

The study that led to these conclusions was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) of the United Kingdom, and was published in the latest issue of the medical journal Cell Metabolism.

The work was conducted by experts at the University of Bristol, who were led by School of Clinical Sciences expert Dr Richard Coward.

The main conclusions of the new study is that podocytes are very important in the development of kidney failure in diabetes. Elevated levels of blood sugars are not the only factor to blame, as previously thought.

These cells can grow to develop a lack of sensitivity to insulin, the hormone inside the body that control the level of sugars in the blood.

“The number of people diagnosed with diabetes is predicted to increase greatly in the future due to the global epidemic of type-2 diabetes,” says Dr Coward, who is also a consultant senior lecturer in the Academic Renal Unit based at Southmead Hospital.

“Treatments that improve the sensitivity of this cell to insulin may be of great benefit in treating this major global healthcare problem,” he adds. Dr Coward is also a MRC Clinician Scientist