New targets for diabetic kidney disease could prevent end stage kidney failure, suggests study

The study revealed multiple ‘common’ and ‘cell specific’ changes caused by insulin-resistance representing new targets for pharmacological or targeted gene therapy approaches.

Richard Coward, Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Bristol and Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and one of the study's lead authors said: “Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage kidney failure in the world, occurring in up to 50 per cent of individuals with diabetes. Patients with end stage kidney disease require daily dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. If we can find a way to prevent this, it would save and improve countless lives.

“Our aim now is to take several of these therapeutic targets forward in a pre-clinical setting, and hopefully through clinical trials.”

Dr Aisling McMahon, Executive Director of Research at Kidney Research UK, added: “We are determined to find ways to tackle diabetic kidney disease. By providing detailed information on genes and pathways involved in diabetic kidney disease, Professor Coward's work takes us one step closer to a more complete understanding of this condition, but also towards discovering new targeted agents to prevent it.” 

Reference:

Abigail C. Lay et al, Profiling of insulin-resistant kidney models and human biopsies reveals common and cell-type-specific mechanisms underpinning Diabetic Kidney Disease, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54089-1