Immune linked high risk diabetic kidney disease found
A Penn Medicine study maps kidney tissue in single cell resolution and identifies a form of disease linked to faster progression to kidney failure.
2 min. read
A detailed new map of the human kidney revealed a previously unrecognized form of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) marked by clusters of immune cells—specifically B cells—that are linked to faster disease progression. The findings could help guide more targeted treatments in the future, according to results from a study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine. The study is published in Nature.
“Diabetic kidney disease has often been treated as a single condition, but patients can have very different outcomes,” says senior author Katalin Susztak, a professor in renal electrolyte and hypertension and co-director of the Penn-CHOP Kidney Innovation Center. “By looking directly at the kidney tissue, we can now see different disease processes and start to match treatments to what’s actually happening in each patient.”
The researchers used a new technology that allows them to study gene activity directly in tissue samples while keeping the structure of the tissue intact. This view reveals not only which cells are present, but also where they are located and how they interact. One important finding is a tissue pattern associated with scarring and inflammation that becomes more common as the disease progresses.
The study suggests that diabetic kidney disease is not a single condition, but a group of different disease types. Recognizing these differences could help doctors choose more effective treatments, especially as new therapies targeting the immune system become available. “Understanding how inflammation is organized within the kidney gives us a new way to classify disease,” says Bernhard Dumoulin, a postdoctoral fellow in the Susztak Lab and first author of the study. “This could lead to more precise treatments tailored to each patient.”
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