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For people with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), recurrences are great concerns because this will worsen kidney condition and lead the disease to eventually progressing into end-stage kidney disease. In a recent experimental exploration, a collaboration of Miller School physicians, surgeons and scientists has unlocked the mechanism of a drug called as Rituximab to treat recurrent FSGS in children and young adults. Their finding was published in June 1 edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis often leads to end-stage renal disease in pediatric and adult patients. While kidney transplantation can improve the mortality rate, as many as 80 percent of patients suffer a recurrence of the kidney disease and lose the transplanted organ. Therefore, there is a great need to find effective, long-lasting therapies. In the study, researchers at the University of Medicine, collaborating with a team of doctors and surgeons, have uncovered how the drug Rituximab, normally used to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, also works to prevent FSGS from recurring in children and young adults with kidney transplants. .
Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the CD20 molecule on the surface of B cell lymphocytes. In cases of recurrent FSGS, the drug Rituximab appeared to bind to and preserve a protein (SMPDL-3b) on kidney podocytes. The protein is under-expressed in patients with recurring FSGS. Rituximab stabilizes protein expression, protecting the fiber formation and structure of the podocytes and preserving their filtering ability. Of the patients given rituximab, the recurrence rate went from 64 percent down to 26 percent.
The discovery may help scientists predict which patients are at risk of recurrence and provides them with vital clues for understanding the cause and development of FSGS at the molecular level. Our kidney-cares community is dedicated to providing patients about the latest and proper way of treating kidney disease. We have a panel of specialists dedicated to putting newest medical progression technique into clinical practice and bringing people latest ideas for their kidney disease.
For more information on preventing the recurrence of FSGS, you may contact us directly.
