New therapeutic target for diabetic nephropathy discovered

A new therapeutic target for diabetic nephropathy has been developed by researchers in the US.

Findings of the study, which is set to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, include that the drug activates the liver x receptor (LXR) that blocks expression of an inflammatory molecule involved in diabetic nephropathy, which is the leading cause of kidney failure.

Dr Daisuke Ogawa, from the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Japan, said: "These observations support an important role for LXR agonists in suppressing the inflammatory responses in diabetic kidneys and preventing the development of nephropathy."

He worked with colleagues including Hiromi Tachibana, Yuichi Matsushita, Dennis Bruemmer, Jun Wada, Sanae Teshigawara, Jun Eguchi, Chikage Sato-Horiguchi, Haruhito Adam Uchida, Kenichi Shikata and Hirofumi Makino on the research.

A study recently conducted by specialists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine's Division of Nephrology & Hypertension found chronic kidney disease changes the composition of intestinal bacterial microbes.

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