We combed through multiple medical journals looking for the latest research on Integrative approach to kidney health. We know your time is valuable so we curated and summarized these studies for you. Welcome to the InKidney April Research and News.
The root cause of IgA nephropathy
IgA nephropathy is a kidney disease that is defined by the pathologic appearance of glomerular deposition of IgA immune complexes. However, this definition does not address the root cause of the disease.
It has been increasingly recognized that IgA immune complex that deposit in the kidneys predominantly contain polymeric IgA1 lacking galactose within its O-glycosylated hinge region.
In this study, researchers found that patients with IgA nephropathy have elevated levels of certain B cells that are enriched for λ light chains. These cells are predestined for homing to upper respiratory and digestive tract mucosal tissues. In the mucosal tissues, these B cells mature and excrete abnormal IgA in the setting of upper respiratory or digestive infection. You can read more IgA nephropathy by reading our blog here.
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Metformin: Some people love it and some people hate it… But it sure is getting a lot of attention lately
This study was done in rats with “non-diabetic kidney disease.” CKD was established in these rats by feeding them high adenine diet. Then they were randomized to receive either metformin or canagliflozin (an SGLT-2 inhibitor).
Metformin, but not canagliflozin, halted the decline in kidney function. Additionally, kidneys of metformin-treated animals showed less interstitial area and inflammation as compared to the vehicle group.
Metformin is increasingly being studied in humans for various kidney diseases. If used judiciously it may be a cheap alternative to preserving kidney function.
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Tremor + gum disease + nephrotic Syndrome = ?
In this study, investigators in Beijing looked into the manifestation of mercury poisoning in 172 patients. 26.74% of these patients had kidney injury (3/4 were women) and most of them had nephrotic syndrome. The most common finding on the biopsy was membranous nephropathy.
Other findings of chronic mercury poisoning were neurotoxicity and gingivitis. Chelation with DMPS alone was as effective as chelation and prednisone in reversing kidney injury.
The most common source of exposure without kidney disease was industrial exposure. Interestingly, the most common source of exposure leading to kidney disease was cosmetics containing ionic mercury (mercury concentration in one of the patients cosmetic was 4600 mg/kg – national standards are < 1 mg/kg).
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