Roughly one million people die of untreated kidney failure, worldwide, each year. Despite the major personal and economic burden, only a few new approaches have been deployed to treat or cure kidney disease over the last 40 years.
Metabolic changes related to an enzyme “helper molecule” — called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) — may serve as the basis for a future treatment or preventive measure for kidney disease, according to a discovery by a new study. This work was published this month in Nature Metabolism.
Metabolic changes related to NAD may offer a new therapeutic target to improve the course of kidney disease. By mapping metabolite changes in healthy and diseased mouse and human kidneys, the scientists consistently identified differences in levels between healthy and diseased kidneys, including a prominent decrease in NAD in those that were diseased. But when mice in the study were provided with an over-the-counter supplement, it was shown to be effective in reversing NAD loss. This indicates that NAD could play an important role in protecting from kidney dysfunction.
“We hope that this research can lead to improved care in the future. So when patients have metabolite changes, they can receive treatment before kidney disorders arise,” said co-lead investigator.
Prior to this study, samples from human patients have not been used in metabolomic studies, meaning the studies of small molecules (like metabolites), in relation to kidney disease.
Using unbiased metabolomic studies, the team identified changes in NAD metabolism in both mouse and human kidneys. In the mouse studies, they showed that using a common supplement, nicotinamide riboside or nicotinamide mononucleotide, to boost NAD protected mice from kidney dysfunction by protecting the mitochondria — the powerhouses — of kidney tubule cells.
Kidney tubule cells are used to return critical filtered nutrients to the body’s blood stream. And when the mitochondria in those cells are damaged, the researchers found, a pathway causing inflammation and kidney disease development is activated. By preventing the damage to mitochondria, NAD supplements suppressed this inflammation and protected mice from kidney injury.
“Identifying these downstream mechanisms that are sensitive to NAD is critical to understanding which conditions may benefit from NAD supplementation,” said the author.
With these findings, the study team hopes that their research will serve as a springboard for further studies into the role of metabolite changes in kidney dysfunction, as well as the development of new pharmaceuticals to prevent and treat kidney disease.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-023-00761-7
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fnad-precursor&filter=22
Role of NAD in kidney disease
- 397 views
- Added
Latest News
Defective myelin promotes A…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
NAD+ metabolic enzyme's rol…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
Viruses such as SARS-CoV-2…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
A pair of brain regions pro…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
How the gut microbiome resp…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Jun
Other Top Stories
Diet has rapid effects on sperm quality
Read more
Cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety can have a protecti…
Read more
Association of short or long sleep with pulmonary fibrosis
Read more
Cilia and centrioles
Read more
Recalling the past and imagining the future using memory engrams
Read more
Protocols
Hardwiring tissue-specific…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Jun
Using mass spectrometry ima…
By newseditor
Posted 07 Jun
Low-threshold, high-resolut…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Jun
Optical opening of the bloo…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jun
Protocol to establish a gen…
By newseditor
Posted 03 Jun
Publications
Transcriptomic atlas and in…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
Myelin dysfunction drives a…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
Steroid receptor coactivato…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
Taurine linked with healthy…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
SARS-CoV-2 infection and vi…
By newseditor
Posted 09 Jun
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 10 Mar
ASCO-2020-GYNECOLOGIC CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 10 Mar