Arthritis Drug May Help Combat Kidney Disease

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a condition characterized by the formation of cysts in the kidneys, is caused by mutations in the genes that encode the proteins polycystin-1 and -2. Rong Li and colleagues show that tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), an inflammatory signalling protein present in the cystic fluid of humans with ADPKD, disrupts the accumulation of polycystin-2 to the cell membrane and primary cilia.

Giving TNF-alpha to mice susceptible to developing cysts, owing a mutation in the gene coding for polycystin-2, resulted in the intensification of disease. By contrast, treatment of the same mice with the TNF-alpha inhibitor etanercept, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, prevented cyst formation.

These data reveal a pathway connecting TNF-alpha, the polycystins and cystogenesis, and suggest that etanercept might be useful to treat people with ADPKD.

Author contact:

Rong Li (Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, USA)
E-mail: rli@stowers-institute.org

Abstract available online.

(C) Nature Medicine press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza