Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious health problem that affects millions of people around the world.
Despite how common it is, the reasons why the kidneys keep getting damaged in CKD have been hard to understand.
However, a new study from Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine offers new insights into how kidney damage happens and points to a promising new target for future treatments.
Researchers have found a protective gene called TMIGD1 that is crucial for kidney health. Dr. Vipul Chitalia, the main author of the study, said, “The novelty of our finding is in the contribution of the TMIGD1 gene to kidney failure.”
This gene plays an important role in protecting the kidneys from damage.
The study used various cellular and experimental models to show that turning off the TMIGD1 gene made the kidneys more prone to injury.
Additionally, the study showed how toxins, which usually build up when the kidneys are damaged, can make things worse by affecting the TMIGD1 gene.
Knowing how the TMIGD1 gene works could change how CKD is treated. Dr. Wenqing Yin, a co-author of the paper, explained, “This new gene can be used as a therapeutic target as well as a screening tool for kidney damage.”
This means that future treatments could focus on this gene to help prevent or reduce kidney damage.
The researchers hope that this discovery will lead to new treatments and ways to prevent CKD from getting worse. This could help reduce the number of people who need dialysis because their kidneys have failed.
With these new findings, researchers are hopeful about developing treatments that specifically target the TMIGD1 gene. This could also lead to better ways to screen for CKD, allowing doctors to catch the disease early and treat it more effectively before it gets too serious.
This breakthrough offers a new way to understand and treat chronic kidney disease. It highlights the importance of further research into how genes like TMIGD1 can protect against kidney damage and how we can use this knowledge to improve patient outcomes.
For those concerned about kidney health, it’s also useful to read about studies linking pesticides to chronic kidney disease and how certain drugs may prevent kidney failure in people with diabetes.
Additionally, recent research shows that some vegetables might protect against kidney damage.
The detailed findings of this study can be found in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent recurrence of kidney stones, and eating nuts linked to lower risk of chronic kidney disease and death.
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