Alarm system discovered in the kidney

Research teams from Leipzig and Magdeburg have taken a significant step towards the prevention of acute kidney disease. Under the leadership of Berend Isermann, Professor of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics at the University of Leipzig and Peter Mertens, Director of the University Clinic for Kidney and Hypertension Diseases, Diabetology and Endocrinology in Magdeburg, a new type of protective system has been identified in the kidney. The discovery, which was recently published in the specialist journal "Kidney International", could open up new avenues for the treatment of acute and chronic inflammatory kidney diseases . The results describe for the first time the anti-inflammatory effect of a cold shock protein in the kidney. Specialized cells in the renal corpuscles release the molecule under investigation and use it to prevent the activation of emergency signals in the kidney tissue," explains Mertens, comparing this mode of operation to a constantly activated safety alarm system that activates the blood defence system's guards in the event of an interruption in order to release an inflammatory program of the blood defence system in the event of impending kidney damage. When the studies were started more than seven years ago, we had expected the opposite result," says Professor Isermann. These results show that the inflammation in the kidney is actively inhibited.