Our spokesperson, Valen Keefer, continues to inspire the kidney disease and transplant community with her new blog for the PKD Foundation, PKD Will Not Beat Me. She’ll be sharing her story and fostering a positive space where people with PKD can come together to talk with each other, get information and lift each other’s spirits. … Continue reading Valen Keefer Launches Her New Blog: PKD Will Not Beat Me
Kidney Cell Transplants May One Day Be Used to Treat Renal Failure
Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine have shown that renal stem cell transplants may have the potential to repair damaged kidneys. In the study using rats with acute kidney injury and CKD, the scientists reprogrammed adult kidney cells to express the SAA gene, thus producing the SAA protein, which is essential to early kidney … Continue reading Kidney Cell Transplants May One Day Be Used to Treat Renal Failure
Researchers Use Normothermic Perfusion to Increase Success of Kidney Transplants
Scientists from Kidney Research UK have discovered a way to increase the success of kidney transplants from deceased donors by reviving the kidneys prior to transplantation using normothermic perfusion. Blood flow is reintroduced to the kidney via a special machine, effectively reversing the damage caused by storing the kidney on ice. The scientists believe kidneys … Continue reading Researchers Use Normothermic Perfusion to Increase Success of Kidney Transplants
Stem Cell Treatment May Eliminate Need for Rejection Drugs in Transplantation
In an ongoing study, Northwestern Medicine and University of Louisville researchers have shown that it may be possible to eliminate the need for rejection drugs in kidney transplantation. The scientists paired living kidney donors with unrelated recipients with compatible blood type and a negative crossmatch. The kidney patients underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments to prepare their … Continue reading Stem Cell Treatment May Eliminate Need for Rejection Drugs in Transplantation
Stem Cells Could Boost Kidney Transplant Success
A team of researchers from University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Xiamen University in China have shown that a combination of mesenchymal stem cell therapy and immune suppressing calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) produces better short-term transplant outcomes than standard anti-rejection drugs and CNIs. Patients who received a transplant from a living relative were treated … Continue reading Stem Cells Could Boost Kidney Transplant Success
Top News on Kidney Transplant Chains and Shortening the Wait for Organs
This has been a big week for stories about innovative approaches to organ donation. Last Sunday, the New York Times featured an amazing story about 60 people linked by a transplant chain that changed the lives of 30 patients with kidney disease. It all began with one man inspired by an acquaintance who had recently … Continue reading Top News on Kidney Transplant Chains and Shortening the Wait for Organs