VUMC team finds potential treatment for kidney fibrosis
Fibrosis is an all-too-common medical condition that globally is responsible for 800 million cases of chronic kidney disease and two million deaths from chronic liver diseases each year.
Blood mutations increase risk for acute kidney injury: study
A U.S.-Canadian research collaboration led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center has identified common, age-associated changes in the blood as a risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI), which occurs in more than 1 in 5 hospitalized adults worldwide.
Kidney disease gene also has a protective mutation
African Americans have long been known to be at increased risk of kidney disease due to a dangerous genetic mutation that creates a hole in the kidney cells, but Vanderbilt researchers have now discovered a protective genetic mutation that covers the hole to eliminate the risk.
Vanderbilt investigators land Keck Foundation grant for groundbreaking genetic research
Vanderbilt scientists, including Nephrology and Hypertension Dr. Roy Zent, have received a $1.2 million award from the W. M. Keck Foundation for their groundbreaking project, “Genetic Intolerance Patterns as a Treasure Map to Genes that Define Us as Human.”
Record year for the Vanderbilt Transplant Center saves 739 lives
The Vanderbilt Transplant Center (VTC) established a new record in calendar year 2023 for total solid organ transplants, performing 739 lifesaving procedures among its adult and pediatric organ transplant programs.
Low potassium injures kidney
Diets with a high sodium-to-potassium ratio are linked to poor cardiovascular outcomes. Attention has mostly focused on high sodium, but low potassium is also a culprit in cardiovascular disease. Andrew Terker, MD, PhD, and colleagues have now discovered that low dietary potassium also causes direct kidney injury.
VUMC’s Aspirnaut program to install science lab at Wynne High School in Arkansas
A chemical biology research lab fit for an academic medical center is being installed at Wynne High School (WHS) in Wynne, Arkansas, as part of a pilot project of Aspirnaut STEM pipeline at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Sex-specific regulation of kidney signals
Before menopause, women have decreased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, compared to men. This sex-specific protection has been largely attributed to estrogens, although the mechanisms remain a topic of investigation.
Improved imaging for kidney disease
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a common inherited disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to form in the kidneys, which increases kidney size and can lead to end-stage renal failure requiring dialysis or kidney transplant. An increase in kidney size is a strong predictor of risk for rapid progression of PKD, but other measures are needed for earlier PKD detection and better risk prediction.
Diabetes drugs associated with fewer adverse cardiac events in older veterans: study
GLP1 receptor agonists — a class of diabetes medications — are associated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events than another type of diabetes drug (DPP4 inhibitors) in older veterans with no prior heart disease. The findings, reported May 9 in Annals of Internal Medicine, will aid clinicians in choosing a diabetes drug regimen for older patients.