Kidney failure deserves far more attention. About 660,000 Americans live with kidney failure, and roughly 47,000 die from it each year.
That death toll exceeds the number of people who die from breast or prostate cancer.
A new study has identified a promising stem cell candidate. This discovery could help researchers develop treatments for damaged kidneys.
The kidneys filter blood and remove waste from the body.
They can repair themselves to a limited extent. However, chronic kidney disease gradually overwhelms them.
Eventually, the disease can cause end-stage renal disease.
At that point, patients have only two main treatment options: dialysis or an organ transplant.
Survivors hold out hope
Italian researchers identified kidney cells with regenerative abilities. These cells expressed a molecule called CD133.
The cells survived injuries and produced several types of kidney cells.
Researchers at the University of Turin wanted to understand how CD133 worked. They also explored whether CD133 could help repair damaged kidneys.
In a study published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, the researchers used cisplatin in their initial experiments.
Doctors use this chemotherapy drug to treat many cancers. However, cisplatin also damages the kidneys of about one-third of patients.
The researchers found that CD133 played an important role in kidney recovery after injury.
They also found that CD133 prevented kidney progenitor cells from aging.
These cells can produce new cells that help repair the kidneys.
Hope for further research
The finding opens several research avenues. Researchers could investigate whether CD133 infusions help damaged kidneys repair themselves.
These infusions might benefit patients whose kidneys no longer produce enough CD133.
In an interview with DD News, Dr. Anthony Atala praised the research. He directs the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
“This interesting and novel finding identifies mechanisms that may help repair injured tissue,” he said.
“It also suggests potential new therapies for tissue repair and regeneration.”
CIRM funds several kidney disease projects, including four clinical trials for kidney failure.
These projects focus on advanced kidney failure. If CD133 research fulfills its promise, it could help patients earlier in the disease.
Please let me know when and where we can sign up for the kidney cell trials my husband is a renal failure patient
Dear Malinda,
Thanks for the email and I’m sorry to hear about your husband. I can only imagine how challenging that must be. As a state agency we fund stem cell research but don’t do any ourselves, nor do we run clinical trials or offer any treatments. To sign up for a clinical trial you would have to go to the http://www.clinicaltrials.gov website – that’s a list of programs registered with the National Institutes of Health – and find a trial you think is appropriate for him and apply through that website.
I hope that helps.
Yours
Kevin
I’m currently at stsge 4/5 end stage renal failure.Can you help me avoid dialysis.
Hi Lula, I’m so sorry to hear about your kidney problems. I can only imagine how challenging that must be. While we do fund three clinical trials targeting end stage kidney disease they are either for people getting a transplant or for someone on dialysis. I’m afraid we don’t have anything that might help you.
You could try searching the website http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. That’s a list of all the clinical trials registered with the National Institutes of Health. There may be something there that can help you.
As with anything that involves an experimental therapy you need to be careful that you are taking part in a clinical trial that has been given the go ahead by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is adhering to rigorous scientific standards. To help you be sure that’s the case here is a link to a page on our website that explains what a clinical trial involves, questions to ask to make sure the trial you are interested in meets the highest scientific standards and some red flags to look out for (such as being charged thousands of dollars for an unproven treatment) https://www.cirm.ca.gov/patients/patients-toolbox/participating-clinical-trial
I do hope that helps.
Kevin
I am a 60 years old male Hispanic patient. My kidneys have given up and I am on dialysis 3 times per week. I am interested in clinical trails you may have related to my condition.
Contact info. as follows;
Noe Alfonso Rodriguez
1021 Sam Rankin St
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
361-884-5499
Cell 832-401-9665
Dear Noe, I am so sorry to hear about your kidney problems. I can only imagine how challenging that must be for you. We are funding one clinical trial right now that is recruiting patients with kidney failure, here’s a link to that research:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03183245
I hope that helps.
Yours truly,
Kevin