Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, may have found a way to stop the growth of polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
This disease leads to the formation of fluid-filled sacs in kidneys. These sacs then continue to grow in numbers, leading to the failure of the organ and the requirement for dialysis.
Now, research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Defense and published in the Cell Reports Medicine journal looks at how the growth of this disease can be thwarted. The News Medical Life Sciences website published an article looking at the study.
“The cysts just keep growing endlessly. And we want to stop them. So we need to get a drug into these cysts that will make them stop,” said the senior author of the study, Thomas Weimbs, who is a biologist at UCSB.
The answer, the study says, lies in dimeric immunoglobulin A (dIgA), which is a monoclonal antibody and an immune protein. The research says that it can enter the cysts and inhibit their growth. It does that by targeting specific receptors inside the sacs that allow for the multiplication of the cells.
“Many of the cyst-lining cells actually make growth factors and they secrete them into the cyst fluid. And these growth factors then bind back to the same cells or to neighboring cells and continue to stimulate themselves and each other,” Weimbs explained.
It is this growth that can be checked by dIgA, which can prevent the inexorable progress of this incurable disease, suggests the study.
But that’s not all! The study found that this immune protein also triggered a process wherein there was death of cyst epithelial cells, meaning that not only was the progress checked, it was also reversed.
Since the study was conducted on mice, some time will elapse before it can be cleared for humans. But the hope is that the scientists have made a breakthrough.
Polycystic kidney disease
As per niddk.nih.gov, polycystic kidney disease is a genetic disorder. While it is generally inherited, in rare cases it can appear without either parent having. In such a case, it is called spontaneous.
There is not much one can do to stop PKD except having a healthy lifestyle. Keeping blood pressure in a healthy range, losing weight, quitting alcohol, reducing stress, etc. are ways to lessen the chances of this disease occurring. As of now, there is no cure for this condition.