“Reducing the amount of protein in the urine of patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare disease in which scar tissue forms on the parts of the kidneys that filter waste from the blood, can significantly slow declines in kidney function and extend time before patients’ kidneys fail, a new analysis by a Children’s National Hospital researcher and her colleagues shows. These findings, published online Aug. 10, 2020, in the American Journal of Kidney Disease, could provide hope for patients who are able to lower their urinary protein with available treatments but aren’t able to achieve complete remission, the researchers say.
FSGS affects about seven per every million people in the general population. However, in the United States, it’s responsible for between 5 and 20% of all cases of end stage kidney disease (ESKD), a condition in which the kidney function declines enough that patients can’t survive without dialysis or a kidney transplant. There are no proven treatments specifically targeting FSGS, but steroids and other immunosuppressants have shown promise in clinical trials.
One characteristic sign of FSGS is proteinuria, in which too much protein is present in patients’ urine. Most clinical trials of FSGS treatments have focused on complete remission of proteinuria as a sign that the intervention is working. However, says Marva Moxey-Mims, M.D., researcher and chief of the Children’s National Division of Nephrology, only a fraction of patients meet that end goal. Instead, many patients achieve some reduction in proteinuria, but it’sbeen unclear whether those reductions lead to significant benefits for kidney health.”
View the whole story here: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/cnh-rup081020.php