Acute Kidney Injury Treated With a Mood Stabilizing Drug

A new study found how acute kidney injury may now be treated with a mood stabilizing drug

A new study found how acute kidney injury may now be treated with a mood stabilizing drug. The findings are significant because there are no effective therapies for AKI.

AKI, an abrupt decline in kidney function, is an increasingly prevalent and potentially serious condition that can arise following trauma, sepsis, major surgery, or exposure to drugs that are toxic to the kidneys. Once the injury develops, patients have few established treatment options besides supportive care. AKI afflicts about 5% of all hospitalized patients and approximately 25% to 30% of patients in intensive care units. AKI is one of the most expensive conditions seen in US hospitals, costing the facilities several billions of dollars each year.

Kidney Transplant Also Face Racial Discrimination - Here's How
Racial discrimination exists even when it comes to kidney transplant-survival rates of transplant recipients is jeopardised if the donor belongs to a different race, a study by an

Research has shown that glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3Î² is an enzyme that plays a major role in the development of AKI. Fortunately, GSK3Î² can be blocked by using inhibitors, including novel small molecule chemical compounds and lithium.

Lithium is an FDA-approved mood stabilizer safely used for the past 50 years to treat bipolar affective disorders, but it carries significant side effects when used long-term. Hui Bao, MD, PhD, Rujun Gong, MD, PhD (Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University School of Medicine), and their colleagues discovered that giving mice a single low dose of lithium following AKI blocks GSK3Î² in injured kidneys, promotes kidney repair, and accelerates the recovery of kidney function.

"Our work suggests that lithium might represent a novel, pragmatic, and affordable therapy to improve kidney recovery after AKI," said Dr. Gong.

Two year old to receive a kidney from each parent
A two year old, Stephen Carr’s life hangs between life and death, suffering an extremely rare condition called renal tubular acidosis, that requires a double kidney transplant

More pre-clinical studies are warranted to see if targeting GSK3Î² with lithium can improve long-term kidney health. Also, clinical trials are needed to determine the appropriate dose of lithium to promote kidney recovery following AKI in humans.

In an accompanying editorial, Man Livingston, PhD and Zheng Dong, PhD (Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University and Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center) noted that "this study, by demonstrating the effect of lithium on tubular regeneration and repair in AKI, has significantly extended our knowledge of this drug and may broaden its potential therapeutic applications in kidney diseases."

Marathon for a Cause: To Fight Against Kidney Disease
The third Zayed International marathon to mobilize public support for the fight against kidney diseases was kicked off in New York Saturday.

Study co-authors include Yan Ge, MS, Zhen Wang, MD, PhD, Shougang Zhuang, MD, PhD, Lance Dworkin, MD, and Ai Peng, MD.

Disclosures: This study was made possible in part by the funding from the US National Institutes of Health grant R01DK092485 and the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) Sister Renal Center Trio Program. Dr. Hui Bao was an ISN fellow and a visiting nephrologist at Brown Medical School from Tongji University in Shanghai, China under the support of the ISN fellowship.

Source-Newswise